THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


» 


Tfe 


Digitjaed  by  the  Interne^Srrchive 

in^OO?  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://Www.archive.org/details/americaneducatioOOpeeriala 


AMERICAN  EDUCATION: 

OR 

STRICTURES 

ON  THE 

NATURE,  NECESSITY,  &  PRACTICABILITY 

or 

^  .System  of  Xattonal  mentation, 

SUITED  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
BY  REV.  BENJAMIN  O.  PEERS. 

WITH  AN  IK  T  RO  D  IT  CT  ORT  LITTER  BY 

FRANCIS  L.  HAWKS,  D.D. 


NEW-YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  JOHN  S.  TAYLOR, 

tHEOLOGICAL   AND    SUNDAT-SCHOOL   BOOKSELLER,    BRICK   CHURCH 
CHAPEL,    CORNER   PARK-ROW   AND    SPRtJCE-STREET. 

1838. 


n 


£nt«red  according  to  the  Act  of  CongresB,  in  the  year  1838,  by 

BENJAMIN  O.  PEERS, 

in  the  Clerlc'a  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the 

Southern  District  of  New- York. 


6.  F.  HoPKlMS,  Printer,  2  Ann-street. 


stack 
Annex 

LC 
?^ 

'V  3H 


INTRODUCTORY  LETTER. 


TO  THE  REV.  B.  0.  PEERS. 

Rev.  and  bear  Sir  : 

It  affords  me  much  pleasure  to  know  that 
you  are  about  to  pubUsh  your  work  on  education, 
the  substance  of  which  you  did  me  the  honour  to 
submit  to  me  in  manuscript,  two  or  three  years 
ago.  The  work,  I  am  persuaded,  will  need  no 
recommendation  to  the  thoughtful  reader  beyond 
the  matter  it  contains.  As,  however,  some  friends 
of  the  great  cause  you  advocate  have  requested 
an  introduction  from  my  pen,  my  deep  interest 
in  the  subject  will  not  allow  me  to  refuse  my 
humble  aid  in  its  support.  Were  you  as  exten- 
sively and  favourably  known  here  as  you  are 
in  the  field  of  your  past  labours,  you  would  need 
no  introduction.  Devoted  for  many  years  to  the 
work  of  instruction,  bringing  to  it  the  enthusiasm 
of  a  mind  deeply  impressed  with  its  importance, 
and  eminently  successful  in  your  past  efforts,  I 
think  you  have  acquired  a  right  to  speak  upon  a 
subject  to  which  you  have  devoted  so  much 
thought  and  observation. 


961077 


IT  INTRODUCTORY  LETTER. 

I  would  fain  avoid,  too,  the  arrogance  of  seem- 
ing to  suppose  that  any  introduction  from  me  can 
give,  as  it  were,  an  imprimatur  to  your  book.  If, 
however,  my  favourable  opinion  will  have  the 
effect  of  inducing  any  one  to  peruse  the  volume, 
I  should  be  sorry  to  withhold  the  benefit  of  that 
opinion.  I  desire  that  the  book  may  be  read  ;  for 
though  in  some  minor  matters  we  might  perhaps 
differ  in  opinion,  yet  substantially  I  know  we 
agree ;  and  any  discussion  of  the  important  sub- 
ject of  which  you  here  treat  must  do  good,  for  it 
is  a  topic  on  which,  as  I  think,  we  have  yet  a  great 
deal  to  learn  in  this  country.  There  is  not  on  the 
face  of  the  globe  a  land  in  which  it  is  more  essen- 
tial that  education  should  be  generally  diffused, 
and  of  the  right  character,  than  in  our  own.  Un- 
der God,  the  preservation  of  our  political  institu- 
tions depends  upon  the  proper  education  of  our 
countrymen.  The  subject,  (though  it  is  begin- 
ning to  occupy  the  thoughts  of  many  good  and 
wise  men  of  the  land,)  is  yet  very  far  from  re- 
ceiving the  attention  to  which  its  importance 
justly  entitles  it ;  and  opinions  are  unfortunately 
prevalent,  the  tendency  of  which  is,  to  present  ob- 
stacles to  the  cause  of  sound  education. 

In  the  first  place,  the  office  of  an  instructer  of 
youth  is  not  respected  as  it  should  be.  We  need 
good  teachers  ;  but  under  the  present  state  of 
public  opinion  are  we  likely  to  procure  them  ? 
There  are  hundreds  of  men  in  our  country  pos- 


INTnODUCTORY  LETTER.  V 

sessing  the  peculiar  qualifications  required  for  this 
employment ;  and  occasionally  the  enthusiasm  and 
practical  philanthropy,  nay,  I  may  add,  the  pa- 
triotism of  one  of  these  prompts  him  to  devote  his 
life  to  the  work,  despite  all  discouragements. 
But  much  the  larger  number  of  those  fitted  for 
the  task,  prefer  to  follow  a  business  having  more 
of  the  world's  respect  than  is  met  with  in  the 
calling  of  a  teacher  of  youth.  An  educated  young 
man,  seeking  means  to  prepare  himself  for  some 
one  of  the  professions  usually  termed  "  learned," 
may  indeed  resort  to  school-keeping  to  increase 
his  scanty  means  of  support ;  but  he  enters  upon 
it  as  a  task  to  which  necessity  alone  has  forced 
him  ;  he  carries  into  it  none  of  the  zeal  that  stimu- 
lates to  vigorous  effort ;  there  is  no  treasured  ob- 
servation from  which  to  deduce  practical  rules  in 
the  delicate  and  difficult  task  of  disciplining  mind  ; 
no  eflTorts  are  made  to  introduce  improvements  ; 
and  at  the  earliest  possible  period,  the  unwilling 
teacher  gladly  delivers  himself  from  what  he  often 
deems  the  disgrace  of  being  a  pedagogue,  and 
entering  on  his  professional  career,  feels  that  he 
has  taken  a  step  upward  in  society.  Now  there 
is  no  disgrace  in  being  a  teacher  of  the  young ; 
the  ancients  very  wisely  deemed  it  one  of  the 
most  honourable  of  all  callings ;  and  it  is  so,  if  it 
be  estimated  as  it  should  be,  by  its  importance  to 
the  well-being  of  society.  Let  it  then  be  con- 
sidered as  one  of  the  learned  professions  ;  let  cora- 
1* 


VI  INTRODUCTORY  LETTER. 

petent  men  be  encouraged  to  give  to  it  the  labour 
of  a  life;  remove  the  temptation  to  undertake  it 
as  a  mere  temporary  expedient,  and  abandon  it  at 
the  earhest  opportunity ;  and  the  best  abilities  of 
the  country  will  soon  be  found  engaged  in  the 
work.  The  professors  in  our  colleges  are  indeed 
on  a  par  with  the  other  professions,  and  this  is 
right ;  but  why  are  not  all  the  teachers  in  the  land 
so  ?  The  common  people,  though  often  unedu- 
cated themselves,  yet  feel  that  they  are  entitled  to 
look  down  on  the  teachers  of  our  common  schools 
as  an  humbler  class  than  that  to  which  they  be- 
long :  and  what  is  the  cause  of  this  ?  Obviously 
this: — incompetent  men  often  obtain  situations 
as  instructors,  because  competent  ones  will  not 
take  them :  the  people  feel  but  little  respect  for 
such  teachers,  and  thus  the  evil  is  perpetuated, 
because  a  man  of  ability  knows  he  must  encoun- 
ter a  prejudice  against  his  calling,  founded  on  the 
known  incapacity  of  his  fellow-labourers  in  the 
work.  The  remedy  for  this  is  simply  to  elevate 
the  office  of  a  teacher  in  public  opinion  ;  to  invite 
the  best  talents  to  engage  in  it,  and  to  afford  ad- 
equate remuneration  for  exertion.  This  would 
bring  forward,  as  it  has  done  into  our  higher  sem- 
inaries of  learning,  many  competent  men.  Let 
there  be  an  educational  department  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  let  its  details  be  managed  by  proper 
officers,  accountable  to  the  representatives  of  the 
people.     In  many  of  the  States,  funds  have  been 


INTRODUCTORY  LETTER.  i^ 

wisely  provided  to  make,  as  far  as  possible,  educa- 
tion a  common  blessing.  It  is  a  sound  republican 
principle  to  provide  funds  and  to  watch  over  this 
subject  with  sleepless  vigilance  ;  but  how  much  is 
it  neglected  in  most  of  the  States  !  It  is  lamenta- 
ble to  see  the  sad  waste  of  pecuniary  means  in- 
volved in  this  matter  of  so  much  public  interest. 
The  waste  consists  in  appropriating  the  money  to 
the  payment  of  agents  who  do  not,  because  they 
cannot,  render  back  to  the  country  an  equivalent 
in  the  proper  education  of  our  youth.  They  are 
not  unfaithful,  but  they  are  too  often  incompetent. 
I  am  verily  persuaded  that  in  the  State  of  New- 
York  for  instance,  if  our  common  schools  were  all 
brought  under  a  system,  subjecting  them  in  every 
particularto  the  supervision  of  one  competent  man, 
who,  as  a  recognised  officer  of  the  government  in 
that  department,  was  paid  for  his  services  and 
held  to  a  strict  responsibility,  we  might,  with 
our  present  expenditure,  accomplish  more  than 
double  our  present  results.  There  are,  as  you 
know,  rich  lessons  of  wisdom  on  this  subject  that 
we  might  gather  from  some  of  the  monarchies  of 
Europe.  I  have  not  here  time  to  go  into  all  the  de- 
tails of  the  plan  that  has  suggested  itself  to  my 
mind,  nor  is  it  necessary.  The  difficulty  is  that  the 
government  has  but  half  done  its  work:  it  has  pro- 
vided funds,  but  it  has  not  provided  an  efficient  sys- 
tem to  disburse  them  to  the  best  advantage.  One 
essential  defect  I  cannot,  however,  here  pass  by. 


Vlll  INTRODUCTORY  LETTER. 

We  want  a  normal  school  for  the  training  of  teach- 
ers. Every  man  is  not  fit  to  teach  the  young,  even 
though  he  may  be  educated,  and  not  destitute  of 
talents.  In  the  German  Universities,  this  training 
of  teachers  is  as  regular  a  department  of  instruction 
as  any  other.  In  such  a  school  as  I  have  named, 
there  will  be  found  in  the  hands  of  a  skilful  profes- 
sor, a  concentration  of  all  the  wisdom  and  all  the 
light  that  experience  and  observation,  carefully 
gathered  from  all  quarters,  have  shed  upon  the  sub- 
ject. Now  if  the  experience  and  observation  of  our 
predecessors  on  other  subjects,  are  valuable,  they 
are  emphatically  so  on  the  great  question  of  the 
best  mode  of  forming  morals,  and  developing 
mind.  But  on  this  head  a  volume  might  be  writ- 
ten instead  of  a  letter. 

In  the  second  place,  an  obstacle  as  I  tliink  to 
the  proper  education  of  our  youth  is,  that  we  do 
not  sufficiently  bear  in  mind  that  we  are  to  edu- 
cate them  as  American  youth.  We  take  European 
plans  and  systems  of  instruction  in  the  gross,  in- 
stead of  merely  taking  from  them  that  which 
may  be  useful  under  our  peculiar  institutions.  It 
is  true  that  the  ancient  languages  and  the  sciences 
are  the  same,  whether  taught  in  Europe  or  America; 
a  Greek  verb  is  a  Greek  verb  all  the  world  over, 
and  the  multiplication  table  is  true  on  either  side 
of  the  Atlantic  ;  and  yet  there  may  be  a  wide 
difference  in  the  scope  and  bearing  of  a  European 
and  an  American  teacher's  remarks,  even  on  the 


INTRODUCTORY    liETTER.  IX 

Greek  grammar,  or  on  arithmetic.  But  what  I  more 
particularly  mean  here  is,  that  a  great  deal  should 
be  taught  to  our  children  that  <;an  be  found  in 
no  European  system,  because  it  has  no  applica- 
tion to  the  condition  or  future  duties  of  a  European 
child.  The  very  book,  therefore,  which  might 
serve  well  enough  for  an  English  boy,  may  not  be 
the  best  for  an  American.  The  instruction  of  our 
children  ought  to  be  such  as  accommodates  itself 
to  the  peculiarities  of  a  republic,  not  of  a  monarchy. 
A  great  deal  here  must  depend  on  the  judgement 
and  good  sense  of  the  teacher  who,  by  his  obser- 
vations is  imperceptibly  to  imbue  his  pupil  with 
feelings  such  as  become  his  situation — to  teach 
him  to  feel  that  as  a  member  of  a  republic  he  has 
peculiar  responsibilities  for  which  he  should  fit 
himself ;  and  in  short,  in  a  thousand  ways  to  pre- 
vent the  lad  from  ever  forming  habits  of  thought 
or  predilections  derived  from  a  more  familiar 
acquaintance  with  English  than  with  American 
institutions.  I  hardly  need  say  that  I  do  not 
mean  the  boy  should  be  made  a  fool  by  being 
taught  to  despise  and  decry  all  that  is  not  American. 
Let  whatever  is  excellent  in  the  institutions  of  all 
lands  be  shown  him  —  let  him,  however,  perfectly 
understand  the  peculiarities  of  his  own  country. 
You  perceive  I  write  as  if  I  supposed  education 
to  consist  of  something  more  than  merely  assign- 
ing to  a  child  a  lesson  in  the  printed  book,  and 
requiring  of  him  to  repeat  it  memoriter.     I  would 


X  INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

rather  teach  a  child  without  book  at  all,  than  teach 
him  nothing  more  than  such  an  exercise  of  me- 
mory. 

There  is  one  other  point  on  which  I  would  say 
a  word.  The  education  of  this  country  is,  I  fear, 
addressed  too  exclusively  to  the  head.  We  have 
not  begun  yet  to  make  it  a  part  of  the  business  to 
educate  ih&heart.  We  provide  for  the  man  physical, 
and  for  the  man  intellectual ;  but  not  for  the  man 
moral.  This  is  wrong.  Religion  no  more  comes  by 
instinct  than  reading  and  writing  do ;  and  we  must 
teach  religion  or  abandon  the  only  efficient  agent  in 
training  the  moral  man.  I  have  alluded  however 
to  this  subject,  because  I  could  not  in  duty  do  less. 
There  is  but  little  need  of  my  enlarging  on  it  to 
you,  for  its  discussion  forms  a  prominent  part, 
nay,  the  staple  of  your  excellent  book. 

I  feel  that  I  have  troubled  you  long  enough 
with  my  thoughts,  thus  hastily  thrown  together,  on 
a  subject  to  which  you  have  devoted  your  life  ; 
and,  as  some  atonement  for  my  trespass  on  your 
time,  I  will  only  say,  that  if  this  letter  will  serve 
instead  of  an  introduction,  you  are  at  liberty  to 
use  it  for  that  purpose. 

Very  respectfully  your  friend, 

FRANCIS  L.  HAWKS. 

ST.  THOMAS*  PARSONAGE, 
SEPTEMBER   1,   1838. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUC  TION. 

Right  of  children  to  an  education.  —  Obligation  of  parents 
and  of  society  to  bestow  it. — Three  questions  to  be  considered 
in  this  volume.  —  Expectation  and  object  of  the  author. 

CHAPTER  II. 

POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF  RELIGIOUS  EDCCATION. 

Importance  of  moral  as  well  as  intellectual  education  in  the 
United  States.  —  Popular  morality  must  have  a  religious  basis.  — 
Employment  of  the  Bible  in  the  national  schools  as  an  instru- 
ment of  moral  culture  —  Necessity  of  having  professionally  ed- 
ucated, pious,  teachers.  —  Protest  of  Dr.  Rush  against  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  Bible  from  schools.  —  Victor  Cousin's  views  of  the 
importance  of  religious  education. 

CHAPTER  III. 

OP  THE  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM  OF  NATIONAL   EDUCA- 
TION. 

1.  A  system  of  national  education  suited  to  the  United  States, 
must  aim,  above  all  things,  to  impress  a  virtuous  character  upon 
the  rising  generation,  and  by  means  of  the  Bible  as  the  instru- 
ment. 

2.  In  educating  the  intellectual  faculties,  it  should  be  guided, 
(with  reference  both  to  methods  of  practice,  and  the  information 
to  be  communicated,)  by  the  laws  of  mind,  and  the  future  wants 
of  the  individual ;  and  not,  as  is  generally  the  case,  by  a  too  sub- 
servient and  blind  regard  to  usage. 


XU  CONTENTS. 

3.  It  must  make  such  arrangements  as  will  ensure  the  attend- 
ance at  school  of  every  child  of  proper  age. 

4.  It  must  cause  them  to  continue  at  school  for  a  period  of  seven 
years. 

5.  It  must  establish  seminaries  for  the  professional  education 
of  a  sufficient  number  of  teachers. 

6.  It  must  provide  means  for  their  accommodation  and  com- 
fortable support ;  and, 

7.  For  the  supervision  and  general  execution  of  its  plans,  it 
must  appoint  wise  and  energetic  superintendents. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

OF  THE  PRACTICABILITY  OF  NATIONAL  KDtJCATION. 

Proofs  of  the  practicability  of  a  system  of  national  education 
suited  to  the  United  States. — Legislative  measures  requisite  for 
putting  such  a  system  in  operation.  —  Dependence  of  legislation 
on  public  sentiment.  — Public  opinion  on  the  advance. 

CHAPTER  V. 

AN  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGT  ON  THEIR  OBLIGATIONS  TO  ASSIST  IN 
EXCITING,  ELEVATING,  AND  DIRECTING  PDELIC  SENTIMENT  ON 
THE  SUBJECT  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION. 


n  i)(.iw-.(  r.,,;[^  ■ 


.  1 


«»1 
I 


CHAPTER   I 


INTRO  DUCTION. 


I  HOLD  it  to  be  self-evident,  that  an  infant  tias  a 
right  to  the  growth  of  its  mind,  no  less  than  of  its 
body :  in  other  words,  that  every  human  being 
is  entitled  to  an  education. 

This  we  ought  to  rank  among  the  natural 
and  unalienable  rights  of  man. 

We  are  forced  to  this  conclusion,  whether  we 
reason  from  the  claims  of  the  individual,  or  from 
the  obligations  of  parents  and  of  society,  or  from 
the  will  of  God  as  indicated  by  his  providence 
and  by  his  word. 

An  infant  has  no  agency  or  choice  in  bringing 
itself  into  the  world  ;  and  on  its  entrance  into  life 
it  is  perfectly  helpless :  it  has  therefore  a  claim  on 
others  for  protection.  It  is  altogether  incapable 
of  taking  care  of  itself;  hence  arises  a  claim  to 
comfortable  food  and  clothing.  It  is  expected,  in 
time,  to  perform  certain  duties  to  the  family,  to 
society,  and  to  God,  which  it  cannot  discharge 

2 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

without  an  appropriate  developement  of  its  physi- 
cal, intellectual,  and  moral  nature  ;  and  on  this  is 
founded  its  claim  to  education. 

Perfectly  commensurate  with  these  claims  of 
children,  are  the  obligations  of  parents  and  of 
society  at  large. 

No  man  has  a  right  to  marry,  unless  he  have 
a  prospect  of  being  able  to  afford  the  leisure,  and 
to  provide  the  means  requisite  for  the  education  of 
his  offspring. 

To  a  human  being  who,  as  a  helpless  animal, 
is  unprovided  with  nourishment  and  shelter ;  or 
as  an  intellectual  and  moral  being,  has  his  educa- 
tion slighted  ;  or  as  an  immortal  being,  is  unpre- 
pared for  the  glorious  destiny  to  which  Christianity 
invites  him,  existence  is  in  the  highest  degree  a 
curse  ;  a  curse  which  no  one  is  at  liberty  to  inflict, 
especially  on  an  innocent,  unconscious,  unresisting 
victim. 

A  parent  expects,  that  at  maturity,  his  children 
will  relieve  him  of  their  maintenance,  and  in  turn 
contribute  to  his  comfort ;  it  is  his  solemn  duty, 
then,  to  fit  them  for  this  state  of  independence,  and 
to  make  them  capable  of  rendering  this  service. 

Society  too  demands  of  every  one  who  is  not 
providentially  hindered,  that  he  support  himself, 
and  conduct  with  justice,  order,  and  benevolence, 
in  all  his  social  relations ;  it  is  consequently  bound 
to  see  that  he  is  prepared  to  do  so.  A  very  deli- 
cate question  in  casuistry  might  here  be  started. 


INTRODUCTION.  16 

viz  :  how  far  should  the  circumstance  of  involun- 
tary miseducation  palliate  the  conduct  of  crinni- 
nals  in  the  estimation  of  our  courts  of  justice  ?  At 
present  the  law  makes  no  allowance  on  this  ac- 
count ;  while  it  is  equally  clear  from  Revelation, 
that  the  Judge  of  all  men  does.  And  is  it  right 
for  man  to  be  less  lenient  than  his  Maker  ;  to  take 
his  fellow  sinner  by  the  throat,  demanding,  "  pay 
me  that  thou  owest ;"  when  infinite  justice  has 
proclaimed  that  a  man  shall  be  judged  according 
to  what  he  hath  ;  not  according  to  what  he  hath 
not? 

If  the  impracticability  of  human  wisdom's  mak- 
ing those  discriminations  which  are  easy  to  Om- 
niscience be  pleaded  in  defence,  this  only  heigh- 
tens, and  greatly  heightens  the  obligation  of  soci- 
ety to  bestow  that  intellectual  and  moral  training, 
for  the  want  of  which  its  legal  exactions  make  no 
allowance,  and  in  consequence  of  human  igno- 
rance can  make  no  allowance,  even  at  the  bidding 
of  justice  and  mercy. 

But  these  are  selfish  sources  of  obligation.  I 
mention,  lastly,  one  that  is  more  noble  and  more 
binding,  even  the  command  of  the  Almighty, 
"  thou  shalt  not  kill."  If  this  be  violated  by  with- 
holding needful  nourishment  and  exercise  from 
the  body,  much  more  is  it  by  denying  suitable 
aliment  and  discipline  to  the  soul. 

The  existence  of  the  sacred  right  to  education, 
and  of  the  obligation  to  bestow  it  as  founded  on 


10  IN  TROD  u  c  Tiorr. 

the  will  of  God,  is  further  indicated  by  the  condi- 
tion in  which  an  infant  is  born,  and  the  responsi- 
bility with  which  he  becomes  invested  in  after 
life.  He  is  held  accountable  by  God  for  the  dis- 
charge of  duties  for  which  education  alone  can 
fit  him.  This  fitness,  however,  owing  to  the  igno- 
rance and  helplessness  of  infancy,  he  is  unable  to 
acquire  himself:  it  must  therefore  be  secured  to 
him  by  others,  who  as  his  natural  guardians  and 
sponsors,  become  accountable  for  his  enjoying  that 
amount  of  developement  both  of  body  and  soul, 
which  shall  qualify  him  for  answering  the  end  of 
his  existence.  Of  course,  a  failure  to  bestow  this 
fitness  subjects  the  sponsors  to  a  large  amount  of 
the  responsibility  which,  under  different  circum- 
stances, would  appertain  exclusively  to  the  edu- 
cated child.  The  Almighty  asserts  his  claim  to 
the  service  of  every  power  physical  and  spiritual 
which  he  has  bestowed  ;  and  if  it  be  not  rendered 
in  consequence  of  the  want  of  education,  or 
through  miseducation,  the  guilt  is  mainly  theirs  to 
whom  the  existence  of  this  disqualification  is 
attributable. 

From  this  it  appears  that  there  are  some  who 
are  charged  by  the  Creator  with  bestowing  a 
suitable  education  on  every  human  being  ;  and  as 
an  obligation  to  give,  implies  in  another  a  right 
to  receive,  it  is  hence  inferred  that  every  human 
being  possesses  a  divine  right  to  receive  an  edu- 
cation. 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

The  circumstances  under  which  a  person  is 
brought  into  the  world  imply  a  promise  of  educa- 
tion. This  promise  made  by  the  parents  is  en- 
dorsed by  society  ;  and  if  the  child  do  not  receive 
its  due  at  the  hands  of  the  original  promiser,  it 
has  a  right  to  come  upon  the  endorser.  Unless  a 
fraud  be  practised  upon  it,  therefore,  its  prospect 
of  education  is  certain. 

The  existence  of  this  right  and  obligation,  so 
far  as  the  growth  and  nourishment  of  the  body 
are  concerned,  is  practically  acknowledged  by 
society  in  all  civilized  countries.  If  a  father,  who 
has  means,  be  so  stingy  or  so  cruel  as  to  deny  his 
children  food,  the  law  compels  him  to  bestow  it ; 
and  where  any  are  destitute  of  the  necessaries  of 
life  thr^gh  the  unavoidable  poverty,  or  the  death 
of  parents,  society  is  taxed  for  their  support. 
Hence  the  origin  of  poor-laws,  alms-houses,  &c. 
This  much  is  guarantied  by  the  inspired  com- 
mand, which  affords  a  security  for  the  enjoyment 
of  the  food  and  circumstances  requisite  for  the 
healthy  growth  of  the  body,  no  less  than  against 
the  maiming  of  any  of  its  members,  or  the  summa- 
ry destruction  of  hfe. 

And  thus  it  is  and  should  be  in  all  respects 
with  reference  to  education.  The  mind  is  of  in« 
finitely  more  importance  than  the  body :  in  infancy 
and  childhood  it  is  just  as  helpless  ;  and  every 
consideration  that  enjoins  the  duty  of  providing 
for  the  support  of  the  latter,  demonstrates  with 
2* 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

augmented  force,  the  obligation  to  attend  to  the 
intellectual  and  moral  culture  of  the  former. 

To  stint  the  growth  of  the  body,  or  to  injure  its 
health, either  by  withholding  food ,  or  by  mechanical 
means,  is  not  one  hundredth  part  so  cruel  as  by 
neglect  to  binder  the  developeraent  of  the  powers 
of  the  soul. 

What  is  it  in  the  story  of  Casper  Hauser  that 
excites  such  indignation  as  well  as  sympathy  in 
our  bosoms,  but  tlte  case  of"  soul  murder,"  which 
it  exhibits?  But  is  not  every  human  being  whose 
education  has  been  slighted,  or  who  has  been 
miseducated,  just  as  really  and  for  the  same 
reasons  an  object  of  sympathy  ?  The  power  of 
sensible  impressions  to  warp  our  judgement  and 
modify  our  feelings,  is  nowhere  more  forcibly 
illustrated  than  in  this  connexion.  We  pity  a 
dw SLY f  whose  body  has  attained  not  half  its  growth, 
whilst  the  hundreds  of  cases  of  mental  dwarfish- 
ness  we  daily  meet  with,  excite  but  little  notice 
or  commiseration.  The  sight  of  a  diseased  or 
fractured  limb  immediately  arrests  our  attention 
and  commands  our  services,  while  the  constant 
inspection  of  vice  and  ignorance,  the  diseases  of 
the  souU  awaken  within  us  comparatively  httle 
concern. 

The  process  of  reasoning,  by  which  we  thus 
determine  the  right  of  every  individual  to  educa- 
tion, points  out  with  equal  clearness  the  length  to 
which  it  should  be  carried.     The  claims  of  chil- 


INTRO  DU  C  TIOW.  19 

dren  upon  their  parents  and  upon  society,  though 
equal  in  point  of  obligation,  are  not  of  the  same 
extent.  The  only  limits  to  the  former,  are  the 
means  of  the  parent,  and  the  capabilities  of  the 
child.  The  responsibility  of  the  latter  extends  no 
further  than  to  bestowing  such  an  elementary 
training  as  will  qualify  each  person  to  take  care 
of  himself  and  to  prosecute  his  own  education. 

The  father  who  can  afford  to  dispense  with  the 
business  assistance  of  his  children  after  their  ele- 
mentary education  is  completed,  so  as  to  afford 
them  leisure  for  further  improvement,  is  bound  to 
do  so.  Nor  is  he  at  hberty  to  withhold  the  means 
under  the  pretext  of  laying  by  a  capital  with 
which  they  may  begin  the  world.  Society  is  bound 
lo  do  no  more  than  to  prevent  the  individual 
from  becoming  a  burden  to  others,  and  to  fit  him 
to  discharge  those  relative  duties  for  the  perform- 
ance of  which  it  holds  him  accountable. 

Here,  then,  we  have  a  criterion  by  which  to 
ascertain  the  nature  and  extent  of  National  Ed- 
ucation. It  by  no  means  proposes  the  absurd 
idea  of  educating  all  alike.  To  attempt  this, 
would  be  to  try  to  accomplish  that  which,  under 
any  circumstances,  is  from  the  nature  of  things 
impracticable.  All  are  not  endowed  with  the 
same  abilities,  and  no  modification  of  artificial 
culture  can  obliterate  native  differences  of  capa- 
city.- Besides,  all  do  not  enjoy  to  the  same  extent 


so  INTRODUCTION. 

the  means  of  obtaining  an  education  ;  and  it  were 
vain  for  government  to  try  lo  place  the  children 
of  the  rich  and  poor  on  a  perfect  equality  in  this 
respect.  When  legislation  shall  have  done  its  ut- 
most at  creating  opportunities  for  the  instruction 
of  all,  the  rich  will  have  the  power,  (and  in  jus- 
tice to  the  distinguishing  goodness  of  Providence, 
they  ought  to  nse  it,)  to  push  the  education  of 
their  children  vastly  and  indefinitely  beyond  what 
is  attainable  by  those  whose  parents  are  more 
circumscribed  in  means. 

In  undertakiDg  the  work  of  education  at  all, 
government,  as  the  representative  and  agent  of 
society,  is  influenced  by  two  considerations  :  its 
duty  to  individuals,  and  its  duty  to  society.  Its 
duty  to  individuals  is  measured  by  their  rights ; 
its  duty  to  society,  by  its  wants. 

These,  as  has  been  already  stated,  exactly  co- 
incide in  their  demands ;  both  being  satisfied  by 
the  bestowment  of  such  an  amount  of  instruction, 
and  of  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  develope- 
ment  to  every  individual,  as  will  enable  him  to 
take  care  of  himself,  so  that  he  may  avoid  becom- 
ng  a  burden  to  the  community  ;  and  to  perform 
the  duties  growing  out  of  his  relations  to  God 
and  to  society,  so  that  he  may  swell  the  amount 
of  general  happiness.  The  inquiry  which  I  am 
concerned  to  make,  is  not,  how  much  education 
is  desirable  for  every  one,  and  for  society,  but 


INTRODUCTION.  HI 

how  much  is  essential  ?  It  relates  not  to  the 
maximum,  but  to  a  minimum. 

The  questions  therefore,  which  I  chiefly  pro- 
pose to  consider,  are  substantially  the  following, 
viz : 

What  kind  and  amount  of  education  do  the  cir- 
cumstances of  society  in  the  United  States  re- 
quire all  its  members  should  receive  ? 

What,  and  how  much  is  every  child,  irrespec- 
tively of  the  character  or  condition  of  its  parents, 
entitled  to  claim,  and  government  consequently 
bound  to  give? 

And  what  arrangements  had  best  be  made  for 
the  purpose  of  complying  with  this  requirement, 
of  meeting  these  claims,  and  of  discharging  this 
obligation  ? 

These  questions,  though  they  do  not  constitute 
the  heads  of  the  formal  divisions  of  this  volume, 
indicate  correctly  and  comprehensively  the  nature 
of  its  contents. 

From  this  statement,  it  is  obvious  that  my  in- 
vestigations are  to  be  limited  to  the  elementary 
education  which  the  government  should  provide 
for  all  the  children  under  its  control,  in  its  Cora- 
ftion  Schools. 

So  far  as  this  extends,  I  have  supposed  that  it 
is  not  only  desirable,  but  essential  for  political 
considerations,  that  in  the  main,  the  education  of 
all  the  children  of  the  nation  should  be  alike,  the 


fSt  INTRODUCTION. 

point  of  divergency  commencing  when  they  leave 
the  low^est  grade  of  Public  Schools. 

The  time  which  I  have  supposed  to  be  requi- 
site for  imparting  this  elementary  education  in  its 
integrity,  is  at  the  lowest  calculation,  seven  years, 
commencing,  say,  at  the  age  of  seven,  and  termi- 
nating at  fourteen.  During  this  period,  every 
child,  without  exception,  is  entitled  to  the  leisure 
and  facilities  requisite  for  acquiring  the  education 
which  it  needs  to  enable  it  to  act  its  part  upon  the 
theatre  of  life.  This  follows  of  necessity  as  a  co- 
rollary from  the  reasoning  at  the  commencement 
of  this  chapter. 

Civil  society,  (I  have  no  allusion  to  any  partic- 
ular form,)  is  of  divine  institution.  It  has  its  ori- 
gin in  the  native  propensities  and  the  natural 
^vants  of  man  ;  and  as  these  are  ordained  by  God, 
that  which  properly  flows  from  them  is  traceable 
to  the  same  source.  Society  then,  having  its 
foundation  in  the  will  of  God,  cannot  be  adminis- 
tered on  principles  contrary  to  his  pleasure  ;  and 
if,  as  I  have  tried  to  prove,  it  is  his  will  that  eve- 
ry human  being  should  receive  a  certain  amount 
of  education,  society  has  no  right  to  make  or  to 
permit  arrangements  that  might  prevent  it.  By 
so  doing,  it  would  not  only  offend  against  the 
rights  of  individuals,  but  sin  against  God. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  an  obligation  in  the 
gross  which  is  not  applicable  to  details.  If,  then, 
it  be  the  duty  of  society  to  see  that  everj'  child 


INTRODUCTIOTf.  23 

receives  an  education,  it  is  equally  its  duty  to  fur- 
nish every  thing  required  for  the  attainment  of 
this  end.  Is  money  requisite  ?  Then  it  is  the  duty 
of  society  to  provide  it.  Is  leisure  ?  Then  there  no 
where  exists  the  liberty  to  withhold  it.  Neither 
a  parent  nor  society  under  any  circumstances  has 
a  right  to  put  children  at  work  so  early,  nor  to 
keep  them  at  work  so  long  as  to  deny  them  the 
necessary  time  for  getting  an  education. 

The  well  established  principle  on  which  every 
efficient  system  of  Common  Schools  is  founded, 
clothes  the  government  with  authority  to  secure 
an  education  to  every  child.  It  virtually  places 
government  in  the  relation  of  a  common  parent  to 
all  the  children  under  its  jurisdiction,  and  by  as- 
suming the  relation,  it  incurs  the  obligations  of  a 
parent,  among  the  first  of  which  is  that  of  giving 
an  education  to  the  young.  If  therefore  the  posi- 
tion be  correct,  that  the  only  possible  excuse  for 
parental  neglect  in  this  particular,  be  the  unavoid- 
able want  of  means,  society  can  never  be  exone- 
rated from  its  obligation,  for  it  always  may  com- 
mand the  means,  and  it  has  no  right  to  withhold  the 
means  of  education  simply  to  relieve  its  purse.  — 
When  the  sum  and  substance  of  parental  duty 
shall  be  proved  to  be  merely  to  provide  for  chil- 
dren, bread  and  meat  and  clothes,  to  take  care  of 
the  body  to  the  utter  neglect  of  the  soul,  then 
may  society  be  released  from  its  obligation  to  af- 
ford to  all  an  opportunity  for  education,  and  not 


34  INTRODUCTION. 

before.  The  true  way  of  looking  at  the  question 
of  abihty  to  educate  all  the  children  of  a  commu- 
nity is,  to  consider  not  the  means  of  individuals, 
but  those  of  society  at  large.  The  aggregate 
property  of  the  community  constitutes  the  fund 
for  this  purpose.  Education  is  a  social  want: 
its  cost  therefore  ought  to  be  sustained  by  so- 
ciety. Popular  education  is  a  common  good  in 
which  every  man  is  interested  according  to  the 
stake  he  has  depending  on  the  prevalence  of  or- 
der, and  therefore  should  be  paid  for  out  of  the 
common  purse,  and  by  each  individual  in  propor- 
tion to  his  property,  that  is,  in  proportion  to  his 
share  of  the  benefit  enjoyed. 

It  will  not  do  to  say  here  that  the  present 
structure  of  society  is  incompatible  with  the  exe- 
cution of  this  theory ;  for  society  has  no  right  to 
put  itself  upon  such  a  footing  as  may  thwart  the 
benevolent  designs  of  the  Creator  ;  and  the  cease- 
less effort  of  the  wise  and  good  and  influential 
ought  to  be,  to  bring  it  back,  by  the  force  of  pub- 
lic sentiment,  to  that  condition  which  will  be  con- 
sistent with  the  enjoyment  of  natural  rights,  and 
favour  the  accomplishment  of  the  divine  intention. 

In  justice  to  myself  I  ought  to  state  explicitly, 
that  my  object  in  this  work  is  to  treat  of  the  subject 
of  education,  under  the  guidance  of  first  principles. 
Of  course,  just  so  far  as  a  system  is  sketched  at  all, 
it  should  be  theoretically  perfect.  In  all  things 
good,  our  aim  and  standard  should  be  high,  no  mat- 


INTRODUCTION.  ^5 

ter  how  defective  we  may  find  our  execution.  The 
judicious  artist  selects  a  perfect  model  for  the  im- 
itation of  his  pupil.  A  child  cannot  paint  a  rose 
the  better,  for  having  a  daubed  picture  rather  than 
the  beautiful  original  before  it.  And  in  the  solemn 
business  of  religion,  our  aspirations  ought  not  to 
be  lower  than  to  imitate  Jesus,  and  thus  be  per- 
fect as  our  Father  in  Heaven  is  perfect ;  because 
we  hear  the  Apostle  Paul  lamenting  the  imperfec- 
tion of  even  his  attainments. 

I  cherish  no  such  visionary  expectation  as  that 
all  the  views  presented  in  this  volume  are  imme- 
diately practicable  ;  nor  do  I  believe  that  it  would 
be  expedient  to  attempt  at  once  the  execution  of 
them  all.  None  but  an  exceedingly  imperfect 
system  would  admit  of  this. 

My  object  is  to  throw  out  such  ideas  as  from 
ten  or  fifteen  years  of  reading,  reflection,  and  ex- 
perience, appear  to  me  of  great  importance.  Not 
that  I  consider  the  views  presented  as  originating 
with  myself.  Far  from  it.  I  rejoice,  and  am 
confirmed  in  my  confidence  in  them,  when  I  see 
that  they  are  cherished  by  the  reflecting  and  ex- 
perienced in  almost  every  part  of  Christendom. 
What  is  chiefly  to  be  desired  now  is,  that  they 
should  be  propagated  and  applied  ;  and  I  shall  feel 
that  I  have  been  amply  rewarded,  if  it  shall  ap- 
pear hereafter,  that  my  humble  efforts  have  con- 
tributed in  any  manner  to  the  accomplishment  of 
an  object  of  such  incalculable  moment. 

3 


'  <J  T  f  ">  'T  O  f>  tt  T  v. 


CHAPTER    II. 


POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION. 


SECTION   I. 

Morality  the  stay  of  American  institutions.  —  Opinion  of  a  for- 
eigner.—  Bishop  Otey  on  the  necessity  of  popular  morality. — 
The  prevailing  education  addressed  entirely  to  the  under- 
standing. ~  Intelligence  and  virtue  not  necessarily  coexistent.  — 
Moral  education  more  important  than  intellectual.  —  Popular 
virtue  not  of  necessity  included  in  the  spread  of  popular  intel- 
ligence. —  The  United  States  need  a  more  sturdy  kind  of  vir- 
tue than  that  founded  on  expediency. 

In  a  society  where  every  man  may  do  pretty 
much  as  he  pleases,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
that  its  members  be  so  educated  that  they  shall 
choose  to  do  right.  Such  a  society  is  that  in  the 
United  States.  By  usage,  and  the  constitutions, 
of  our  country,  the  will  of  the  majority  is  law, 
from  which  if  it  be  wrong,  there  is  no  appeal ; 
and  for  whose  decisions,  if  they  be  injurious,  there 
is  no  redress.    The  prospect,  therefore,  of  social 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION.  27 

order  and  happiness,  bears  an  exact  proportion  to 
the  nearness  with  which  the  majority  approach 
infallibility.  Hence  the  necessity  for  the  general 
prevalence  of  intellectual  and  moral  culture  of 
the  highest  order,  in  a  republic. 

An  intelligent  foreigner  who  has  studied  the 
structure  of  our  institutions  with  great  discern- 
ment, happily  describes  the  dependent  relation 
they  sustain  to  popular  virtue,  in  the  following 
language  : 

"I  consider  (says  he)  that  domestic  virtue  of 
the  Americans  is  the  principal  source  of  all  their 
other  qualities.  It  acts  as  a  promoter  of  industry, 
as  a  stimulus  to  enterprise,  and  is  the  most  pow- 
erful restrainer  of  public  vice.  It  reduces  life  to 
its  simplest  elements,  and  makes  happiness  less 
dependent  on  precarious  circumstances  ;  it  ensures 
the  proper  education  of  children,  and  acts  by  the 
force  of  example  on  the  morals  of  the  rising  gen- 
eration ;  in  short,  it  does  more  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  peace  and  good  order  than  all  the  laws 
enacted  for  that  purpose  ;  and  is  a  better  guar- 
antee for  the  permanency  of  the  American  gov- 
ernment than  any  written  instrument,  the  consti- 
tution itself  not  excepted. 

"  No  government  could  be  established  on  the 
same  principles  as  that  of  the  United  States  with 
a  different  code  of  morals.  The  American  con- 
stitution is  remarkable  for  its  simplicity:  but  it 
can  only  suffice  a  people  habitually  correct  in 


28  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

their  actions  ;  and  would  be  utterly  inadequate  to 
the  wants  of  a  different  nation. 

**  Change  the  domestic  habits  of  the  Americans, 
their  religious  devotion,  and  their  high  respect  for 
morality,  and  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  change 
a  single  letter  of  the  constitution  in  order  to  vary 
the  whole  form  of  their  government. 

"  The  circumstances  being  altered,  the  same 
causes  would  no  longer  produce  the  same  effects  ; 
and  it  is  more  than  probable,  that  the  disparity 
which  would  then  exist  between  the  laws  and 
the  habits  of  those  whom  they  are  destined  to 
govern,  would  not  only  make  a  different  govern- 
ment desirable,  but  absolutely  necessary  to  pre- 
serve the  nation  from  ruin," 

The  cogency  and  clearness  of  its  reasoning 
supply  me  with  a  sufficient  apology  for  introdu- 
cing an  additional  quotation,  for  the  purpose  of 
showing,  that  the  importanttruths  just  stated,  have 
not  been  overlooked  among  ourselves.  It  is  from 
the  pen  of  a  distinguished  fellow-citizen  whose 
comprehensive  views  and  schemes  of  education, 
I  fondly  hope,  are  destined  to  exert  a  powerful 
influence,  not  only  upon  the  respectable  body  of 
Christians  with  which  he  is  connected,  but  through 
them,  also  upon  the  sentiments  and  practice  of 
society  at  large. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  James  H.  Otey,  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Bishop  of  Tennessee,  in  one  of  his  annual 
addresses  to  Convention  observes  : 


RElIOIOrS  EDUCATION.  29 

"  I  wish  to  show  that  in  the  mighty  rush  which 
•has  been  making  by  our  enterprising  countrymen 
to  occupy  the  rich  plains  of  the  South,  con- 
servative principles  have  been  lost  sight  of,  and 
that  there  is  real  and  imminent  danger  of  their  being 
totally  disregarded.  The  elements  of  Christianity 
ar€  far  more  deeply  and  intimately  interwoven 
with  the  frame-work  of  society,  and  of  our  civil 
institutions,  than  is  generally  supposed,  or  than  is 
apparent  to  slight  reflection.  That  which  most 
nations  have  laid  at  the  basis  of  their  civil  regula- 
tions, and  incorporated  with  the  fundamental  laws 
of  the  land,  our  countrymen  have  taken  for  grant- 
ed. They  have  supposed  that  our  people  would 
at  all  times  be  virtuous  and  enlightened,  and  that 
they  would  guard  with  vestal  vigilance,  the  pre- 
cious deposit  of  civil  and  religious  freedom  com- 
mitted to  their  trust,  by  some  of  the  wisest  and 
most  pious  men  the  world  has  ever  known.  Our 
entire  form  of  government  is  constructed  upon 
this  idea ;  nor  has  it  a  single  provision  to  meet  a 
state  of  things,  which  must  inevitably  result  from 
a  want  of  intelligence  and  sound  moral  principle, 
in  the  mass  of  community.  The  constitution  of 
every  state  in  the  Union  supposes  that  our  citi- 
zens can  read  —  that  they  can  acquaint  them- 
selves with  the  laws  —  that  they  have  virtue  to 
sustain  and  enforce  the  laws  —  that  they  can  scan 
the  conduct  of  their  representatives,  and  that  they 
can  protect  their  rights  from  usurpation  and  un- 

3* 


30  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

warrantable  invasion  by  their  public  servants. 
Thus  we  see,  that  for  the  execution  of  civil  enact- 
ments —  for  obedience  to  the  constituted  authori- 
ties of  the  country,  and  for  the  security  and  hap- 
piness of  society,  we  have  to  look  to  the  preva- 
lence of  a  sound  moral  sentiment  among  the  people. 

"Indeed,  such  is  the  nature  of  our  government, 
that  it  is  obvious  to  reflection,  that  public  sentiment 
not  only  originates  the  law, but  sometimes  becomes 
superior  to  it,  rendering  it  null  and  virtually  void. 
The  statutes  of  the  legislature  are  for  the  most 
part  nothing  more  than  public  sentiment  assuming 
a  particular  shape  from  passing  through  the  forms 
of  legislation.  Let  the  current  of  popular  favour 
set  strongly  in  behalf  of  any  particular  measure 
and  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  that  mea- 
sure will  presently  assume  the  form  of  law. 
Equally  potential  is  public  sentiment  when  oppo- 
sed to  an  existing  law  of  the  land.  Thus  a  breach 
of  the  Lord's  day  takes  place  with  impunity,  not 
a  magistrate  of  the  country  deeming  it  due  to  his 
oath  of  office  to  notice  such  a  violation.  The 
same  may  be  said  in  regard  to  profanity.  Duels 
likewise  take  place  in  sight  of  the  halls  of  legisla- 
tion, in  defiance  of  all  the  sanctions  and  solemni- 
ties of  law,  human  or  divine. 

"  Now  all  this  results  from  the  deterioration  of 
public  morals  —  from  overlooking  the  great  c«u*- 
dinal  and  conservative  principles  of  our  institutions  ; 
and  if  the  process  continues,  as  it  is  likely  to  do,  in 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION.  31 

the  mighty  impulse  that  moves  our  citizens  to  *  com- 
pass sea  and  land,'  and  penetrate  the  depths  of  the 
wilderness  to  •  gather  pelf,'  it  is  perfectly  evident 
that  it  may  and  must  end  in  the  subversion  of  all  gov- 
ernment by  law,  and  throw  society  back  upon  its 
original  elements  :  or  what  is  more  frightful  to  con- 
template as  a  probable  issue,  the  strong  hand  of 
despotism  may  seize  upon  and  sway  the  sceptre  of 
arbitrary  power  over  a  land  watered  by  the  tears 
and  hallowed  by  the  blood  of  some  of  the  most 
pious,  enlightened,  and  patriotic  men,  that  have 
ever  struggled  for  civil  and  religious  liberty.  I 
feel  perfectly  confident  that  this  view  of  our  ac- 
tual condition  and  prospects,  must  approve  itself 
to  the  judgement  of  every  reflecting  man  as  just : 
and  it  is  only  necessary  to  see  this  subject  in  the 
light  in  which  it  is  here  but  very  faintly  presented  ; 
in  order  to  perceive  that  it  is  to  the  interest  of 
every  man  in  this  community,  who  values  his  dear- 
bought  and  inestimable  privileges,to  provide  means 
for  averting  the  progress  of  an  evil  which  is  every 
day  and  hour  deepening  and  widening  its  influ- 
ences. As  Christians  and  friends  of  our  country, 
we  cannot  feel  uninterested  in  these  matters ;  as 
teachers  of  religion,  it  is  our  duty  to  inform  our- 
selves about  them" 

Our  sense  of  the  importance  of  these  statements, 
can  be  equalled  only  by  the  depth  of  our  regret 
that  they  are  not  felt ;  or  if  felt,  are  not  practically 
heeded  by  us  as  a  nation.  We  profess  to  be 
convinced  of  the  political  necessity  of  the  preva- 


32  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

lence  of  education,  and  we  have  made  considera- 
ble efforts  to  secure  it ;  but  it  is  a  species  of 
education  which  is  addressed  wholly  to  the  un- 
derstanding. 

It  is  a  mortifying  circumstance,  that  the  church 
as  well  as  the  nation  at  large,  needs  to  be  aroused 
to  the  practical  importance  of  the  truth,  that  in- 
telligence alone,  however  accumulated  and  diffu- 
sed, will  not  suffice  for  the  safety  and  well-being 
of  a  self-governing  community.  There  is  among 
us  an  idolatrous  respect  for  intellect,  in  which 
Christians  largely  participate  ;  which,  without  re- 
pentance, will  bring  upon  us,  if  not  the  vengeance 
of  Heaven,  yet  certainly  and  in  no  measured  forms, 
the  suffering  that  always  awaits  the  disobedience 
of  natural  laws. 

It  is  true  "  Knowledge  is  power ;"  but  we  seem 
to  forget  that  it  is  potent  for  evil  as  well  as  good ; 
and  that  whether  its  effects  be  good  or  ill,  depends 
entirely  upon  the  dispositions  and  sentiments  by 
which  it  is  impelled  and  guided.  The  greatest 
scourges  of  our  race  have  been  men  of  gigantic 
cultivated  intellect ;  and  omniscience  would  be  a 
terrific  attribute  of  the  Deity  were  it  not  allied 
with  infinite  benevolence.  If  there  be  a  case  in 
which  unquestionably  "  ignorance  would  be  bliss," 
it  is  that  where  knowledge  but  qualifies  its  pos- 
sessor for  inflicting  misery.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, intelligence  is  emphatically  a  curse. 

There  is  nothing  clearer  from  experience  than 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION.  33 

that  a  high  degree  of  intelligence  may  co-exist 
with  a  large  amount  of  vice.  It  is  far  from  being 
uncommon  to  find  those  whose  opportunities  of 
observing  men  have  been  the  most  extensive,  en- 
tertaining the  belief  that  the  highest  order  of 
talents,  and  great  moral  worth,  are  seldom  found 
united  in  the  same  individual. 

The  voice  of  history  too  justifies  this  impression, 
declaring  unequivocally  that  a  large  proportion,  if 
not  a  majority  of  great  men,  or  of  those  who  by 
virtue  of  their  intellectual  superiority  have  risen 
highest  in  human  estimation  and  influence,  have 
been  bad  men.  How  is  it  that  Washington, 
and  Marshall,  and  Wilberforce,  and  John  Jay, 
and  Patrick  Henry,  and  a  few  other  benefactors 
of  mankind,  stand  out  so  prominently  amidst  the 
crowd  of  great  men  immortalized  in  history  ?  The 
answer  is,  because  such  men  have  been  few  in 
number.  We  single  them  out  because  their 
group  is  small.  They  are  conspicuous,  because 
they  are  acknowledged  exceptions  ;  and  they  are 
exceptions,  with  reference  more  to  their  moral, 
than  their  intellectual  greatness.  That  panegyrist 
of  these  men  is  singularly  faulty,  whose  praises 
are  not  summed  with  an  account  of  their  piety, 
their  philanthropy,  their  patriotism,  and  their  many 
private  virtues.  It  is  simply  because  of  these  that 
the  remark  is  true,  that  "  though  there  have  been 
many  Caesars/  the  world  has  seen  but  one  Wash- 
ington," 


34  POLITICAL   NECESSITY   OF 

What  too  has  been  the  almost  uniform  charac- 
ter of  the  courts  of  kings,  around  which  the  most 
learned  and  able  men  of  a  nation  are  usually  gath- 
ered ?  Thousands  have  been  the  volumes  composed 
to  satirize  their  vices ;  but  very  few  indeed,  profess- 
edly and  sincerely  to  eulogize  their  virtues.  It  can 
by  no  means  be  said  either,  of  those  who  have  been 
most  distinguished  as  poets,  historians,  philosophers, 
statesmen,  and  generals,  that  they  have  been  propor- 
tionally remarkable  for  their  moral  and  religious 
worth  ;  nor  does  the  language  of  observation  tes- 
tify, that  at  the  present  day,  those  who  are  the 
most  eminent  for  their  intelligence,  are  at  the  same 
time  the  most  virtuous.  Of  the  nations  of  anti- 
quity, Greece  and  Rome  were  much  the  most 
enlightened  ;  and  it  cannot  be  questioned  that  they 
were  among  the  most  corrupt.  The  greatest 
strength  of  the  Barbarians  who  over-ran  the  latter, 
consisted  in  the  internal  weakness  consequent 
upon  the  vices  which  reigned  within  the  capital, 
and  spread  their  baneful  influence  out  upon  the 
provinces.  It  is  worthy  of  observation  too,  that 
the  Roman  empire  was  most  enlightened  during 
its  decline  and  gradual  overthrow,  precisely  the 
period  when  it  was  most  corrupt ;  whilst  her 
proudest  and  most  virtuous  days  were  prior  to  the 
dawn  of  science  ;  her  youth  having  been  a  season 
of  comparative  ignorance  and  virtue ;  her  old  age, 
of  intelligence  and  vice. 

Were   we   obliged   to  speak  of  the,  reJ^tivQ 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION.  35 

importance  of  two  things,  both  of  which  are  es- 
sential, we  could  not  hesitate  to  say  that  society 
has  more  occasion  for  the  moral,  than  the  intel- 
lectual education  of  its  members.  This  is  uniformly 
and  practically  acknowledged  by  our  legislators, 
since  law  is  generally  addressed  to  the  moral 
faculties  of  men.  Differences  of  intellectual  power, 
whether  native  or  the  result  of  education,  it  seldom 
takes  into  consideration,  when  deciding  upon  the 
guilt  or  innocence  of  a  criminal  at  the  bar.  All 
penal  laws,  that  is,  all  whether  civil  or  criminal, 
to  which  any  penalty  is  annexed,  take  it  for  granted 
that  an  observance  of  them  by  all  to  whom  they 
are  addressed  is  practicable.  They  are  not  en- 
acted with  a  view  to  enlighten  the  community  on 
the  subject  of  morals,  nor  to  supply  capacity  for 
obedience.  They  are  made  necessary  not  by  ig- 
norance, but  by  indisposition  to  do  right ;  and 
therefore  amount  to  an  attempt  to  coerce  or  pre- 
vent by  force,  what  ought  to  be  and  might  be 
avoided  or  performed  from  principle.  Of  the 
two,  then,  ignorance  and  vice,  it  is  evident  that 
the  latter  is  much  the  greater  foe  to  good  govern- 
ment ;  for  whilst,  as  has  been  stated,  all  penal 
laws  presuppose  the  possession  of  knowledge,  or 
the  power  to  obtain  it,  (as  is  evinced  by  the  max- 
im "ignorance  of  the  law  excuseth  no  man,") 
they  equally  assume  that  the  peace  of  society  is 
in  danger  from  the  existence  of  a  disposition  on 
the  part  of  many,  to  do  wrong. 


36  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

The  difficulty  of  being  good,  consists,  not  so 
much  in  knowing  how,  as  in  the  want  of  inclina- 
tion. Generally  speaking,  there  is  no  knowledge 
more  easy  of  attainment  than  that  of  right  and 
wrong.  The  judgement  would  not  often  be  em- 
barrassed in  its  efforts  to  distinguish  them,  were  it 
not  for  the  warping  influence  of  passion,  preju- 
dice, or  some  improper  feeling.  In  other  words, 
if  the  heart  were  right,  the  head  would  seldom 
err  in  pointing  out  the  path  of  duty.  Were  it  not 
for  this,  there  would  be  no  equity  in  punishment. 
The  sentiments  of  society  revolt  at  the  idea  of  in- 
flicting suflfering  for  the  commission  of  crime  un- 
der an  unavoidable  absence  of  a  knowledge  of  its 
impropriety.  This  it  is  which  exempts  idiots  and 
infants  from  responsibility ;  and  yet  the  plea  of 
ignorance  is  seldom  instituted  in  defence  of  a 
criminal  arraigned  before  the  bar  of  justice  for 
theft,  or  murder,  or  any  other  violation  of  the 
laws. 

The  superior  importance  of  popular  virtue  is 
manifest  also  from  the  republican  nature  of  our 
institutions.  In  a  commercial  partnership,  when 
several  men  unite  their  capital  and  efforts  for  the 
accumulation  of  money,  integrity  and  skill  on  the 
part  of  all  concerned,  are  both  of  them  desirable, 
but  they  are  not  equally  essential.  It  may  suffice 
that  only  one  or  two  possess  a  superior  know- 
ledge of  business,  but  it  is  indispensable  that  all  be 
honest.   The  absence  of  principle  in  a  single  part- 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION.  37 

ncr  may  defeat  the  end  of  the  association.  A  wise 
man  and  a  fool,  if  both  be  just,  may  transact  busi- 
ness together  with  success.  Not  so  a  wise  man 
and  a  knave.  And  thus  it  is  with  an  association 
for  any  other  purpose  —  for  that  of  government 
for  instance.  In  a  self-managing  community,  it 
may  answer  that  the  few  be  intelligent ;  the  many 
must  be  virtuous.  It  does  not  require  a  large 
number  of  educated  minds  to  enact  good  laws 
when  there  is  a  disposition  in  the  people  to  obey 
them.  In  such  a  case,  the  majority  may  be  as 
ignorant  as  savages,  and  yet  the  government  flow 
on  smoothly,  if  wisely  and  humanely  administered 
by  an  autocrat.  But  the  reverse  of  this  in  no 
case  could  be  possible.  The  moment  the  morals 
of  the  people  at  large  become  corrupt,  society  is 
set  ajar ;  every  thing  is  out  of  joint ;  discord  en- 
sues ;  peace  and  tranquillity  are  destroyed ;  and 
the  safety  of  the  government  is  put  in  jeopardy. 

A  wholesome  state  of  public  morals  therefore 
is  far  more  essential  in  a  republic  than  popular  intel- 
ligence. A  nation  of  devils  would  furnish  poor  mate- 
rial for  a  society,  though  each  of  them  should  be 
as  intelligent  as  Milton's  Belial. 

Our  error,  however,  consists  not  so  much  in 
supposing  that  popular  virtue  may  be  safely  dis- 
pensed with,  (the  contrary  is  universally  alleged,) 
as  in  assuming  that  it  will  of  necessity  he  included 
in  the  spread  of  popular  intelligence ;  a  position 


38  POMTICAI,    NECESSITY    OP 

which  neither  philosophy,  nor  history,  nor  obser- 
vation will  sustain. 

We  have  heard  of  a  father  who,  having  taught 
his  oldest  son  to  read  and  write,  gave  as  a  reason 
for  not  educating  the  remainder  of  his  family,  that 
the  first  use  the  former  made  of  his  "  larning " 
was,  to  forge  his  name  ;  and  if  coexistence  always 
implies  causation,  it  might  be  very  plausibly  main- 
tained, as  we  have  already  shown,  that  mental 
illumination  was  favourable  to  vice. 

As  our  schools  are  conducted  at  present,  it  is 
exceedingly  questionable  whether  they  have  not 
an  immoral  rather  than  a  moral  tendency.  Of  a 
given  number  of  youths,  the  half  of  whom  shall 
pass  through  college  and  the  various  preparatory 
schools,  and  the  other  half  be  brought  up  in  habits 
of  industry  at  home,  the  probabilities  of  virtuous 
character  are  much  in  favour  of  the  latter.  The 
moral  exposure  of  the  former  is  incomparably 
greater,  whilst  the  course  of  education  to  which 
they  are  subjected,  does  but  little  to  fortify  their 
hearts  against  the  encroachments  of  vice. 

Our  political  theory,  if  rightly  interpreted  by 
our  practice,  takes  it  for  granted,  that  if  we  make 
our  youth  intelligent  they  will  make  themselves 
virtuous.  But  does  the  experience  of  individuals 
or  of  communities  justify  this  inference  ?  Do  the 
prevailing  opinions  of  society  authorize  it  ?  What 
are  the  general  impressions  of  mankind  as  to  the 
moral  tendencies  of  our  race?     Unquestionably 


HELIGIOUS   EDUCATION.  39 

that  they  are  to  evil  —  that  to  contract  bad  habits 
we  have  only  to  be  idle,  to  give  them  opportu- 
nity to  grovv^  —  but  that  improvement  of  the  cha- 
racter is  a  laborious  business,  requiring  effort ; 
strenuous,  judicious,  and  unceasing  effort. 

The  sum  and  substance  of  the  political  creed 
of  republican  America,  at  least  when  judged  of 
by  her  educational  arrangements,  is,  that  to  quali- 
fy a  man  to  become  a  good  citizen,  capable  of 
taking  part  in  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment, all  you  have  to  do  is  to  teach  him  to  read 
and  write  and  cipher  ! 

All  such  expectations,  however,  involve  a  total 
misconception  of  the  nature  of  virtue. 

As  well  may  we  expect  that  constant  motion  of 
the  fingers  alone,  whilst  all  the  other  members  of 
the  body  remain  inactive,  will  invigorate  the  gen- 
eral system,  as  that  the  isolated  exercise  of  the 
intellectual  faculties  will  give  a  healthy  tone  to 
the  moral  powers.  Virtue  is  a  habit ;  and  the 
only  way  to  induce  a  habit,  is  by  long  continued 
and  appropriate  practice. 

It  has  been  often  said  in  commendation  of  pop- 
ular education  in  the  United  States,  "educate  the 
people  so  that  they  may  understand  their  true 
interests  and  they  will  be  infallible,  they  will  not 
sin  against  themselves."  But  is  this  supported  by 
experience?  Is  it  true  of  individuals  ?  Does  the 
miser  deny  that  charity  is  a  virtue  ?  or  the  drun- 
kard the  expediency  of  temperance  ?    Are  all 


40  POLITICAL  NECESSmr  OF 

men  strictly  just  who  subscribe  the  maxim,  "ho- 
nesty is  the  best  policy  ?"  or,  are  all  those  hearty 
and  consistent  Christians  who  are  convinced  that 
there  is  another  world  for  which  it  is  their  high- 
est interest  to  prepare  in  this  ?  Few  things  are 
more  frequently  at  variance  than  one's  judgement 
or  conscience,  and  his  conduct.  Almost  all  men 
are  theoretically  good,  and  are  sincerely  persua- 
ded it  is  their  interest  to  be  so  practically ;  still, 
those  who  "sin  against  themselves"  are  very 
largely  in  the  majority.  Even  "devils  believe 
and  tremble,"  but  they  continue  devils  still. 

Our  national  circumstances  require  a  far  more 
sturdy  kind  of  virtue  than  that  which  is  founded 
on  expediency.  The  latter,  upon  which  we  have 
hitherto  relied,  threatens  to  fail  us  even  in  the  in- 
cipient stage  of  our  political  trials.  It  is  not  true 
that  all  persons  are  capable,  even  with  the  great- 
est aid  from  intellectual  cultivation,  of  always 
forming  a  just  estimate  of  their  interests ;  and  if 
they  were,  they  would  not  act  i^  to  it. 

Expediency,  therefore,  as  a  rule  of  conduct  is 
neither  safe  nor  practicable.  It  is  not  safe,  because 
of  the  warping  influence  which  our  wishes  and  pre- 
judices have  upon  our  judgements.  Men,  like 
children,  are  greatly  influenced  and  determined 
in  their  conduct  by  the  proximity  of  rewards  and 
punishments.  A  child  would  prefer  a  single  six- 
pence now,  to  half  a  dozen  promised  to  be  paid  next 
month.    The  threat  of  punishment  to  be  inflicted 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION.  41 

twelve  months  hence,  would  have  but  little  influ- 
ence on  the  present  conduct  of  servants  or  soldiers. 
Objects  appear  large  or  small  to  the  intellectual,  as 
to  our  corporeal  vision  ;  that  is,  according  to  the 
distance.  There  would  be  very  few  confirmed 
drunkards,  if  the  awful  eflects  of  habitual  intem- 
perance were  experienced  by  each  individual  the 
first  time  he  indulged  in  the  use  of  alcoholic 
drinks  ;  and  it  is  not  because  the  young  doubt  the 
uniform  testimony  of  age  as  to  the  ultimate  con- 
sequences, that  they  are  so  prodigal  of  their 
health  by  personal  exposure,  by  dissipation,  and 
by  compliance  with  the  extravagant  demands  of 
fashion. 

Expediency  as  a  rule  of  conduct  is  not  practi- 
cable, because  few  or  none  know  how  to  use  it.  It 
is  an  essential  requisite  for  a  moral  rule,  that  it 
shall  suit  all  moral  beings,  of  all  stations,  ages, 
and  conditions.  Now  when  we  recollect,  that  to 
estimate  the  real  tendency,  and  therefore  the  ex- 
pediency of  an  action,  we  must  often  look  at  the 
remote  and  not  at  the  immediate  results ;  we 
must  anticipate  as  far  as  from  childhood  to  old 
age,  and  sometimes  take  into  consideration  the 
other  world,  the  influence  of  our  present  conduct 
on  our  happiness  hundreds  of  ages  hence ;  it  is 
evident  there  is  required  an  intellectual  reach  and 
power  of  which  the  most  highly  cultivated  are  in- 
capable. What  then  is  to  become  of  the  mass 
of  mankind ;  the  comparatively  ignorant,  and  the 
4* 


42  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

inexperienced  ?  What  encouragement  have  or- 
dinary men  to  direct  their  mental  vision  where 
the  eagle  eye  of  genius  cannot  penetrate  t  Where 
experience  is  puzzled,  what  is  youth  to  do  I 


SEC  T  I  ON   II. 

Not  enough  that  Government  in  the  United  States  tderafe  the 
Christian  Religion.  —  Religious  education  of  our  youth  essen- 
tial to  national  prosperity. —  No  such  thing  as  popular  morali- 
ty without  a  religious  basis.  —  Washington's  opinion  on  this 
subject.  — Bible  the  best,  and  an  essential  instrument  of  moral 
culture — planned  and  bestowed  by  God  for  this  purpose;  its 
use  therefore  no  less  obligatory  on  nations  than  individuals.  — 
Bible  contains  the  only  perfect  system  of  morals.  —  Evils  re- 
sulting from  false  theories  of  moral*. 

By  these  preliminary  remarks,  the  reader  is  pre- 
pared in  some  measure  to  appreciate  one  of  the 
leading  propositions  of  this  volume,  which  is,  that 
the  popular  virtue  which  is  essential  under  a  go- 
vernment like  ours,  can  be  produced  only  by 
means  of  the  Christian  Religion  engrafted  upon 
our  systems  of  popular  education. 

In  other  words ;  it  is  not  enough  that  the  inha- 
iHtants  of  the  United  States  be  made  intelligent, 
or  even  moral  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term. 
We  must  be  a  religious  people  ;  and  this  can- 
not be  effected,  unless  the  Bible  be  enthroned  in 
all  our  schools,  legislative  or  public,  as  well  as 


KELIOIOVS  EDUCATION.  43 

private ;  and  unless  all  our  schemes  of  education 
be  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  reli- 
gion of  Jesus,  considered  not  only  as  a  moral  code 
or  rule  of  conduct,  but  likewise  as  a  sentiment, 
and  source  of  motives. 

Experience,  I  trust,  is  about  to  force  upon  us 
the  lesson  which  reason  and  conscience  should 
have  long  since  taught  us,  that  it  wi|l  not  answer 
for  a  government  constituted  as  ours  is,  to  say 
that  it  will  tolerate  the  Christian  Religion.  It 
must  do  far  more  than  this.  It  must  espouse  it. 
It  must  appropriate  it  as  its  soul,  its  life,  its  stay, 
its  cementing  bond,  and  the  sheet  anchor  of  its 
hopes.  Just  as  well  may  the  body  dispense  with 
food,  the  earth  with  fructifying  showers,  a  palace 
with  a  foundation,  a  steamboat  with  its  rudder, 
or  the  Emperor  of  Russia  with  his  standing  army  ; 
and  it  is  altogether  inappropriate  to  speak  of  tol- 
erating that  which  is  indispensable.  The  preju- 
dices of  the  Pagan  and  the  Mahomedan  are  re- 
spected (as  they  should  be)  by  our  laws.  We 
may  very  properly  speak  oi tolerating  them.  Juda- 
ism is  permitted.  Deism  and  even  Atheism  may 
be  endured.  But  something  more  must  be  done 
for  the  Christian  Religion  by  a  republican  people. 
They  must  adopt,  and  cherish,  and  apply  it,  and 
obey  its  guidance,  or  else  they  will  be  compelled 
to  change  their  form  of  government.  Our  gov- 
ernment could  not  subsist  a  single  generation 
without   the    Bible,    and    the    religion  which    it 


44  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

teaches.  It  dares  not  discard  its  assistance.  Why 
then  object,  or  be  indifferent  to  the  application 
of  its  principles  to  education,  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  the  national  character?  Evil  surely 
awaits  that  system  which  is  incompatible  with 
genuine  bible  influences.  Such  will  have  a  per- 
manent and  invincible  antagonist  always  embar- 
rassing its  operations. 

Public  sentiment  is  fast  advancing  to  the  recog- 
nition of  these  truths,  and  is  inviting  the  friends 
of  the  Bible,  to  take  their  post  and  do  their  duty. 
For  example  ;  the  impression  has  of  late  years 
rapidly  gained  ground,  that  our  colleges  are  not 
manageable  without  religious  influences  ;  and  the 
experiment  might  with  safety  be  submitted  to  the 
choice  of  the  most  inveterate  infidel,  (provided  he 
were  endowed  with  ordinary  political  sagacity,) 
of  demolishing  our  churches ;  or  of  converting 
them  into  theatres  or  even  school-houses  ;  of  ob- 
literating the  Sabbath  ;  and  dispensing  in  all  re- 
spects with  the  influences  of  the  Christian  Religion. 
He  would  not  appropriate  the  offer.  The  French 
Revolution,  a  beacon,  which  mere  selfishness  dare 
not  disregard,  is  too  fresh  in  history  to  permit 
him.  He  feels  that  the  Bible,  its  institutions,  its 
ministers,  its  hallowed  tendencies,  are  absolutely 
essential  to  the  maintenance  of  government. 

The  Bible  has  a  hold  upon  society  which  can 
neither  be  sundered  nor  slighted.  It  were  easier, 
by  ten  thousand  times,  to  revolutionize  our  gov- 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION.  45 

emment,  and  establish  in  its  stead  a  Turkish  des- 
potism, than  to  revolutionize  our  religion,  to  sub- 
stitute the  Koran  for  the  Bible,  or  to  eradicate  its 
influence  in  a  Christian  community.  The  very 
constitution  of  human  nature,  its  condition,  its 
wants,  its  hopes,  its  fears,  must  all  be  radically 
changed  before  the  Christian  Religion  can  be  ab- 
rogated. Nothing  therefore  but  the  Omnipotence 
to  which  it  refers  its  origin  and  preservation,  is 
adequate  to  its  suppression  ;  and  whilst  it  lives, 
it  cannot  fail  to  exert  a  powerful  influence  in  reg- 
ulating the  affections,  the  sentiments,  the  conduct, 
and  the  affairs  of  men.  For  these,  and  other  rea- 
sons such  as  these,  it  behooves  the  friends  of  the 
Bible  to  make  larger,  and  bolder  demands  in  its 
behalf.  It  does  not  receive  its  due  ;  and  patriot- 
ism and  philanthropy,  no  less  than  religious  duty, 
imperatively  call  for  a  louder  and  more  urgent 
statement  of  its  claims. 

The  religious  education  of  the  youth  of  our 
country  under  the  guidance  of  the  Bible  is  abso- 
lutely indispensable.  The  welfare  of  the  country 
cannot  be  secured  without  it.  The  happiness  of 
a  nation  is  but  a  multiple  of  the  happiness  of  indi- 
viduals. It  is  the  same  in  kind,  and  can  be  pro- 
duced only  by  the  extended  operation  of  the  same 
causes. 

Is  it  true  of  personal  happiness,  that  it  does  not 
consist  in  idleness,  in  selfishness,  in  wealth,  in  lux^ 
uries,  in  sensual  gratifications,  in  vicious  indulgen* 


48  POLITICAL    NECESSITY    OP 

cies  of  any  sort  ?  So  it  is  of  national.  Is  the 
felicity  of  an  individual  derived  from  the  constant 
and  appropriate  employment  of  all  the  faculties 
of  his  nature,  the  moral  and  religious,  as  well  as 
the  intellectual  and  physical?  from  temperance, 
from  moderation,  from  contentment,  from  the 
acquisition  and  application  of  knowledge?  from 
the  exercise  of  the  benevolent  affections,  from 
love  to  God  and  man,  to  his  family,  his  friends, 
his  neighbour,  and  even  to  his  enemies  ? 

All  this  is  true  ;  and,  if  possible,  more  emphati- 
cally true,  of  a  whole  community  of  individuals. 
A  nation  is  not  a  chemical  compound  in  which 
the  character  of  the  constituent  elements  is  dis- 
guised or  neutralized,  possessing  new  and  totally 
different  properties  simply  in  consequence  of  com- 
bination. It  is  more  like  the  mechanical  aggregate, 
which  is  a  homogeneous  mass,  differing  in  nothing 
but  in  size  from  the  integrant  particles  that  com- 
pose it.  If  this  reasoning  be  correct,  we  have 
possession  of  an  infallible  test  by  which  to  deter- 
mine the  relation  that  the  Bible  sustains  to  national 
prosperity  and  happiness.  Can  a  single  man  or 
woman  afford  to  dispense  with  the  light  of  its  doc- 
trines, the  guidance  of  its  precepts,  the  restraint  of 
its  admonitions,  the  support  and  consolation  of  its 
promises  ?  Then  millions  cannot.  Can  a  single  in- 
dividual be  happy  who  is  the  slave  of  selfish  and  dis- 
social passions  ;  of  anger,  pride,  revenge,  malevo- 
lence  in  all  its  forms?  If  not,  a  myriad  of  such  beings 
would  only  aggravate  each  other's  wretchedness, 


RELlOIOrS    BDUCATION.  47 

I  am  fully  aware  of  the  delicacy  of  the  ground 
I  am  now  approaching  ;  and  yet  I  feel  compelled 
to  speak  with  frankness,  from  an  irrepressible 
conviction,  that  our  national  circumstances  call 
upon  us  to  survey  it,  and  with  the  least  possible 
delay.  No  one  is  more  deeply  sensible,  than  am 
I,  of  the  difficulty,  as  well  as  of  the  importance  of 
the  problem,  which  relates  to  the  union  of  the  re- 
ligion of  our  country,  with  the  education  of  our 
country.  I  perceive,  clearly  enough,  the  prejudi- 
ces that  must  be  overcome,  the  jealousies  which 
must  be  allayed,  and  the  conflicting  interests  that 
must  be  reconciled,  in  attempting  to  effect  it.  I 
would  therefore  speak  with  becoming  diffidence 
and  caution,  rather  in  the  way  of  suggestion  than 
of  recommendation  as  to  modes  ;  but  of  its  abso- 
lute necessity,  1  deem  it  utterly  impossible  to  speak 
too  strongly. 

Consistency,  it  seems  to  me,  must  oblige  all 
those  who  regard  the  binding  sanctions  of  religion 
as  necessary  to  the  existence  of  popular  morality, 
and  of  popular  virtue  to  national  prosperity ;  to 
look  upon  it  as  entirely  essential,  that  popular  ed- 
ucation should  be  thoroughly  imbued  with  a  reli- 
gious spirit.  There  is  no  other  way  in  which  the 
general  prevalence  of  sound  morality  can  be  effect- 
ed. This  must  be  done,  if  done  at  all,  through  the 
agency  of  the  Bible  operating  on  the  tender  hearts 
and  minds  of  children  and  of  youth. 

It  may  safely  be  assumed  as  settled,  that  there 


48  POLITICAL  NECESSITY   OF 

is  no  such  thing  as  genuine  popular  morality  with- 
out a  religious  basis.     Religion  and  morality  can- 
not be  separated.   They  are  united  by  indissoluble 
ties.     The  one  sustains  to  the  other  the  relation 
which  a  part  does  to  the  whole.     Morality  is  a 
chain  which  is  dependent  on  religion  for  support. 
It  is  like   machinery  united  with  a   mainspring, 
without  whose  influence  it  can  have  no  movement. 
The  father  of  our  country  but  echoes  the  voice  of 
experience,  and  of  the  wise  in  all  ages,  when  he 
advises  us  "to  indulge  with  caution  the  supposi- 
tion that  morality  can  be  maintained  without  reli- 
gion ;"  alleging  that  "whatever  maybe  conceded 
to  the  influence  of  refined  education  on  minds  of 
peculiar   structure,   reason  and  experience  both 
forbid  us  to  expect  that  national  morality  can  pre- 
vail in  exclusion  of  religious  principle." 

To  the  same  effect  is  the  testimony  of  a  cele- 
brated living  authority,  Victor  Cousin,  whose 
opinion,  as  it  embodies  that  of  the  better  part  of 
the  French  nation  is,  for  obvious  reasons,  entitled 
to  peculiar  weight  upon  this  subject.  Addressing 
the  minister  of  public  instruction,  in  his  report,  he 
exclaims  with  an  earnestness  expressive  of  the 
importance  he  attached  to  the  idea,  "  Thank  God, 
sir,  you  are  too  enlightened  a  statesman  to  think 
that  true  popular  instruction  can  exist  without 
moral  education,  popuZar  morality  without  religion, 
or  popular  religion  without  a  church."  When 
France,  as  is  thus  manifest,  concedes  this  point,  it 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION,  49 

were  madness  for  any  other  nation  to  hold  it  under 
discussion. 

If  the  Supreme  Being,  in  the  exercise  of  infi- 
nite wisdom  and  goodness,  has  seen  fit  to  pre- 
scribe a  mode  in  which  the  moral  faculties  of  our 
nature  shall  be  developed  ;  if  he  have  given 
written  instructions  for  the  express  purpose  of 
guiding  us  in  the  formation  of  our  characters,  then 
two  inferences  are  unavoidable,  viz  :  first,  that 
the  Bible  containing  these  instructions,  is  the  very 
best  instrument  which  could  possibly  be  devised 
to  answer  this  end  ;  and  second,  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  every  human  being  to  acknowledge  its  authority, 
and  to  use  it  in  his  efforts  for  his  own  and  other's 
moral  improvement.  This  implied  command  is 
just  as  binding  on  us  in  our  social,  as  in  our  per- 
sonal capacity ;  on  nations  as  really  as  on  indi- 
viduals ;  for  numbers  do  not  alter  the  nature,  nor 
lessen  the  force  of  moral  obligation. 

The  standard  of  public  morals  ought  to  be  at 
least  as  high  as  that  of  private.  We  do  not  get 
rid  of  our  responsibility  by  becoming  members  of 
society.  The  same  authority  which  has  made 
personal  well-being  depend  on  goodness,  has  also 
said,  that  it  is  "righteousness"  and  righteousness 
only  which  "  exalteth  a  nation." 

The  precepts  of  the  Bible  are  universal  laws 
made  for  the  human  race ;  and  are  equally  obli- 
gatory on  individuals,  families,  neighbourhoods, 
and  nations.     The  Bible  is  the  moral  constitution 

5 


50  FOLITICAI.  NECESSTTT   OF 

for  the  entire  family  of  man.  When  it  furnishes 
specific  rules,  they  are  binding  on  all ;  and  when 
these  are  wanting,  its  principles  are  the  criteria 
by  which  human  legislators  must  be  guided  in 
supplying  them.  It  respects  not  persons  nor  their 
circumstances.  The  rich  and  poor  are  equally 
amenable  to  its  authority.  Kings  are  as  much 
obligated  to  yield  obedience  as  their  subjects ; 
the  government  as  the  governed.  In  this  country. 
Congress  and  our  state  governments  are  bound  to 
legislate  according  to  its  dictates  and  its  spirit. 

It  affords  a  rule  by  which  at  once  the  acts  of 
the  representatives  may  be  tested,  and  the  repre- 
sented be  fitted  to  exercise  the  delicate  right  of  in- 
struction. How  would  the  business  of  making 
laws  be  simplified,  if  incases  affecting  the  conflict- 
ing interests  of  individuals,  districts,  and  nations, 
the  question  chiefly  and  honestly  debated  were, 
what  is  right  ? 

Our  representatives  should  legislate  with  the 
Bible  in  their  hands,  and  the  people  approach  the 
poles  with  its  principles  deeply  seated  in  their 
hearts. 

This  world  as  a  whole,  or  in  any  of  its  subdivi- 
sions, large  or  small,  cannot  go  on  smoothly,  until 
in  all  its  arrangements  it  is  in  harmony  with  the 
divine  will.  A  nation  cannot  prosper  so  long  as 
it  refuses  to  acknowledge  its  accountability  to  the 
Judge  of  all  men;  and  the  Bible  alone  tells  us 
how  to   act  up  to   that   accountability.     It   is 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION.  91 

the  only  book  which  assigns  a  satisfactory  reason 
for  the  derangement  that  pervades  our  world,  and 
it  is  the  only  source  from  which  we  can  obtain  a 
correct  and  ample  knowledge  of  the  remedy.  It 
ascribes  all  to  the  fact  that  man  is  endeavouring 
to  gratify  his  instinctive  thirst  for  happiness  in  a 
sinful  and  impracticable  way,  by  methods  of  his 
own  devising,  to  the  neglect  or  violation  of  the 
plan  of  God  ;  and  consequently,  as  disobedience 
is  the  cause  of  all  suffering,  so  repentance,  faith, 
and  obedience  are  the  only  possible  road  to  real 
happiness.  This  is  a  universal  truth ;  applica- 
ble to  the  greatest  nation  as  much  as  to  the  hum- 
blest individual.  To  assert  the  contrary  would 
be  just  as  absurd  as  to  suppose  that  the  law  of 
gravitation  which  holds  of  an  atom,  does  not  ap- 
pertain to  a  pyramid,  which  is  but  a  combination 
of  atoms.  In  both  cases,  the  force  of  the  law  is 
only  increased  by  augmentation. 

This  looks  like  axiomatical  reasoning,  and  yet  it 
is  not  superfluous,  because  not  practically  heeded. 
Where  is  the  legislature  in  our  country  which  suf- 
ficiently and  consistently  recognises  the  supreme 
authority  of  the  Bible  ?  The  fault,  however,  is 
with  their  masters  the  people,  who  do  not  bid 
them  do  so.  The  people  therefore  must  be  chan- 
ged ;  their  sentiments,  their  dispositions,  their  hab- 
its of  thinking  and  of  feeling,  before  this  universal 
derangement  can  cease  or  be  diminished. 

The  only  way  to  effect  so  great  a  change,  is  to 


&i  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

employ  the  preventive  influence  of  education,  so 
as  to  keep  future  generations  from  becoming  like 
the  present.  The  Bible  therefore  must  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  the 
children  of  the  nation ;  in  other  words,  it  must 
be  universally  introduced  into  our  elementary 
schools  as  the  great  instrument  of  moral  culture ; 
for  it  is  in  these  schools  alone  that  all  the  children 
of  the  country  can  be  reached.  No  matter  what 
may  be  the  point  from  which  we  set  out  to  rea- 
son on  the  subject,  we  are  forced  at  last  to  this 
conclusion.  To  avoid  it  fairly,  is  impossible. 
There  is  no  other  way  of  achieving  the  great  end 
of  moral  education.  It  cannot  be  accomplished 
without  the  aid  and  guidance  of  the  rules  and 
motives  of  the  Bible.  No  where  else  whatever 
can  we  find  a  correct  system  of  morals.  The 
sages  of  Greece  and  Rome,  with  as  much  of  mind 
and  study  as  human  nature  is  capable  of  applying 
to  any  subject,  left  that  of  morals  exceedingly  im- 
perfect. Socrates,  Plato,  and  Aristotle,  who  ap- 
proached perhaps  as  near  the  verge  of  the  limits 
assigned  the  human  faculties  as  any  other  unin- 
spired men,  felt,  and  owned  the  necessity  of  a  re- 
velation. Had  they  been  permitted  to  listen  to 
the  teachings  of  Jesus,  in  all  probability  they 
would  have  been  fully  satisfied.  They  would 
have  perceived  that  the  business  of  discovery  in 
the  region  of  morals  was  forever  terminated.  It 
is  impossible  to  improve  on  that  which  is  already 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION.  53 

perfect.  Since  the  completion  of  the  sacred  vol- 
ume, all  improvements  in  religion  have  been  and 
must  ever  be  "  advances  backward."  The  Chris- 
tian Religion  has  been  encumbered  with  human 
appendages  foreign  to  its  nature  and  uncongenial 
with  its  spirit,  and  of  these  it  may  be  disabused ; 
but  what  it  wants  and  what  alone  it  is  capable  of 
receiving  on  this  account  is  restoration,  not  im- 
provement. We  may  improve  in  our  methods 
of  applying  it  —  of  bringing  its  energies  to  bear 
upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men ;  but  it  is  a  sad 
misnomer  to  pronounce  this  an  improvement  of 
the  system.  We  can  no  more  improve  the  Chris- 
tian Religion,  than  we  can  the  laws  of  chemical 
attraction,  or  of  the  animal  economy,  and  for  the 
very  same  reason. 

It  is  impossible  to  calculate  the  harm  which 
has  been  done  by  our  persisting  to  theorize  and 
systematize  upon  topics  which  have  been  com- 
pletely unfolded  by  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  strange 
and  lamentable  that  we  should  continue  to  light 
up  the  dim  torch  of  reason  to  elucidate  a  subject 
which  has  been  illumined  by  the  full  blaze  of  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness.  Our  conduct  in  this  par- 
ticular, is  one  of  the  innumerable  illustrations  of 
the  centrifugal  tendency  which  has  marked  the 
actions  of  mankind  since  the  sin  of  our  first  par- 
ents. A  great  and  distinguishing  peculiarity  of  the 
Christian  system  is,  that  it  fastens  every  thing  on 
God.  He  is  the  source  from  which  all  emanates, 
5* 


S4  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

tiie  centre  to  which  all  tends.  His  will  is  at  once 
the  reason  and  the  rule  of  human  conduct ;  and 
to  fear  him,  and  keep  his  commandments,  is  pro- 
claimed to  be  the  whole  duty  of  man.  But  all 
reference  to  God  is  banished  in  the  popular  no- 
tions of  morality.  They  give  consideration  sole- 
ly to  the  claims  of  our  fellow-men,  and  to  the 
consequences  of  our  conduct  to  ourselves. 

Even  Christian  writers  have  been  betrayed  into 
this  "  snare  of  the  devil,"  and  have  helped  to  thick- 
en and  perpetuate  the  moral  darkness  of  the  world, 
by  deriving  from  expediency,  and  sympathy,  and 
other  secondary  sources,  their  flimsy  and  inopera- 
tive systems  of  moral  science. 

Thank  God,  however,  there  are  cheering  indi- 
cations of  a  change  ;  and  Dymond  and  Way  land 
deserve  the  thanks  of  all  the  friends  of  the  Bible 
and  of  their  species,  for  helping  to  unmask  this 
most  pernicious  error. 

But  we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  this  prospect, 
under  Providence,  to  that  benevolent  feature  in 
the  moral  government  of  God,  the  self-correcting 
tendency  of  evils^ 

Painful  and  critical  experience  is  beginning  to 
admonish  the  civilized  world,  and  most  emphati- 
cally the  people  of  the  United  States,  that  with 
the  universal  advances  of  the  democratic  spirit, 
society  stands  in  need  of  some  more  substantial 
safeguard,  and  of  some  less  ambiguous  criterion 
of  duty,  than  mere  considerations  of  expediency. 


REUOIOUS  EDUCATION.  55 

Our  country  is  becoming^  infested  with  a  class  of 
men,  (whose  numbers,  already  formidable,  are 
constantly  increasing  and  with  geometrical  ra- 
pidity,) that  have  nothing  to  lose  and  every  thing 
to  gain  by  changes  in  the  circumstances  of  society. 
Oppressed  with  the  leisure  which  laziness  affords, 
they  seek  relief  from  ennui  by  disturbing  the 
peace  of  others.  Popular  excitement  is  their  ele- 
ment. Looking  upon  the  rich  as  their  natural 
enemies,  they  are  constantly  complaining  of  the 
unequal  distribution  of  wealth,  and  in  a  political 
struggle  are  always  found  arrayed  against  prop- 
erty. Under  the  impression  that  the  existing 
state  of  things  is  adverse  to  their  interests,  they 
are  ever  ready  to  go  "  en  masse  "  against  it ;  and 
they  never  want  leaders. 

But  who  that  regards  expediency  as  the  reason 
and  the  rule  of  human  conduct,  can  consistently 
complain  of  this  ?  These  men  are  habitually  told 
that  their  "  being's  end  and  aim  is  happiness ;'' 
that  perfect  liberty  in  the  pursuit  of  this  ranks 
among  the  unalienable  rights ;  that  in  republican 
governments  every  man  is  free  to  follow  the  dic- 
tates of  his  own  judgement;  and  as  they  very 
naturally  believe  themselves,  to  be  the  best  judges 
of  their  own  interests,  they  easily  persuade  them- 
selves that  a  division  of  property  would  be  pro- 
motive of  them ;  that  a  revolution  in  the  existing 
state  of  things  would  be  conducive  to  their  happi- 
ness ;  that  it  is  expedient  therefore  there  should  be 


56  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OP 

a  change  ;  and  accordingly,  and  with  perfect  con- 
sistency, they  act  in  a  body  to  produce  it. 

Their  conduct  is  the  natural  result  of  the  false 
theory  of  morals  under  which  they  have  been 
reared ;  and  this  theory  must  remain  in  force  so 
long  as  the  fundamental  maxim  which  gives  rise 
to  it  is  so  generally,  nay,  so  universally  misinter- 
preted by  society.  It  is  not  true  in  the  popular 
sense  of  the  expression,  that  our  "  being's  end  and 
aim  is  happiness."  Were  it  so,  as  we  are  taught 
from  our  childhood  upward,  then  it  would  be  ob- 
viously just  that  we  should  regulate  our  conduct 
by  our  notions  of  expediency  ;  that  we  should  pay 
supreme  regard  to  that  which  we  may  suppose 
would  conduce  to  the  end  of  our  being,  here,  the 
attainment  of  earthly  happiness.  But  the  end  of 
our  being  is,  and  its  highest  aim  should  be,  "  to 
do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  us  ;"  and  thus  to  seek 
for  that  felicity  which  relates  to  a  future  as  well 
as  to  the  present  world.  This  is  the  foundation 
of  a  sublime  yet  simple  code  of  morals  which  a 
child  may  understand,  and  the  most  ignorant  suc- 
cessfully apply.  It  formed  the  sum  and  substance 
of  the  laws  by  which  "the  Son  of  Man"  was 
guided ;  and  society  will  never  cease  to  be  morally 
unmanageable  until  this  sentiment  be  instilled  into 
the  bosoms  of  our  youth  from  infancy  to  manhood  ; 
and  the  easily  answered  questions,  what  is  proper  ? 
what  is  right  ?  —  in  other  words,  what  would  God 
have  me  to  do  ?  be  substituted  in  room  of  the 


BELIOIOVS    EDUCATIOW.  57 

perplexing  and  delusive  inquiries,  what  is  expedient  ? 
what  will  promote  my  interests  ?  Unless  this 
change  take  place,  the  popular  self-will,  misled  by 
an  erroneous  and  loose  morality,  will  continue  to 
plunge  into  increasing  and  still  greater  lawlessness, 
till  the  condition  of  society  will  be  past  endurance, 
if  not  past  remedy. 


SECTION  III. 

The  state  of  public  morals  in  the  United  States  perhaps  never 
worse  than  at  present,  when  so  much  is  doing  for  Public  Ed- 
ucation.—  This  owing  to  the  unnatural  separation  of  Intellec- 
tual and  moral  culture.  —  In  attempting  a  reform,  we  should 
aim  to  make  Education  not  merely  moral  but  religious  —  for 
this  purpose  ought  to  have  pious  teachers.  —  Judicious  appeals 
to  the  sense  of  duty,  the  best  means  of  managing  children.— 
Practice  of  the  Author  with  his  Pupils.  — Teachers  must  be 
trained  for  the  purpose  before  Christian  Education  become 
general.  —  Appeal  to  Christians  and  Ministers.  —  Intellectual 
and  moral  Education  not  only  compatible  but  mutually  bene- 
ficial— 'Importance  of  reuniting  them» 

The  present  aspect  of  things  in  our  country,  forces 
upon  us  one  of  two  conclusions  ;  either,  that  there 
is  something  exceedingly  faulty  about  our  plans 
of  popular  education,  or  else  that  the  hopes  which 
we  have  entertained  of  the  beneficial  influence  of 
education  on  society,  are  fallacious ;  for  it  is  cer- 
tain, that  in  no  part  of  the  United  States  has  it 
bad  the  eflfect  contemplated  as  necessary  by  the 


58  POLITICAL    NECESSITY    OF 

theory  of  our  government.  A  great  deal  has  been 
done  of  late  years  to  advance  the  cause  of  public 
instruction ;  but  what  has  it  accomplished  for  the 
interests  of  public  virtue  ?  What  are  the  condi- 
tion and  prospect  of  American  morals  ?  Is  all 
well  ?  Are  there  not  many  who  believe  that,  in 
despite  of  colleges,  acadamies,  and  common 
schools,  we  are  rapidly  degenerating  ?  that  our 
situation  is  at  present  well  nigh  desperate  ?  and 
is  there  not  abundant  cause  for  apprehension  that 
what  is  already  bad,  is  fast  becoming  worse  ? 

Is  the  spirit  of  legislation  more  honest  and  dis- 
interested than  it  was  in  the  earlier  days  of  the 
republic  ?  Is  patriotism  gaining  the  ascendency 
over  avarice  and  ambition  ?  Can  we  bring  the  sav- 
age to  attest  that  we  are  more  virtuous  than  our  im- 
mediate forefathers  ?  Are  we  getting  to  attach  a 
greaterdegree  of  sanctity  to  the  sabbath  and  to  oaths 
than  formerly?  Is  the  sacred  character  of  juror 
more  respected,  or  more  worthily  and  consistently 
maintained  ?  Are  the  ends  of  justice  less  interrupt- 
ed by  favouritism,  money,  party  feeling,  or  other 
sinister  considerations  ;  and  more  easily  and  effec- 
tually attained  than  during  our  early  history,  when 
public  education  was  scarcely  talked  of?  Has 
the  law  become  so  prompt  and  faithful  in  vindi- 
cating injured  reputation  that  it  is  no  longer  deemed 
disreputable  to  resort  to  it  for  protection  and  re- 
dress ?  Is  the  thirst  for  luxurious  indulgence  on 
the  wane  ?  Has  the  lust  for  instantaneous  wealth, 
the  desire  of  fortune  without  the  use  of  means ; 


KELIOIOUS    EDUCATION.  59 

in  short,  the  gambling  propensity,  been  growing 
weaker  ?  Is  party  feeling  becoming  shorn  of  its 
acerbity,  its  selfishness,  its  recklessness  ?  Have 
the  spirit  of  insubordination,  of  disrespect  of  law, 
and  a  disposition  for  personal  revenge,  been  on 
the  decrease  ? 

What  is  the  language  of  our  newspapers  on 
this  subject  ?  Do  they  say  that  duels,  murders, 
riots,  robberies,  assassinations,  mobs,  and  such  like, 
are  becoming  rarities  ?  What  is  the  voice  of  our 
legislative  records  ?  Have  our  legislators  been 
engaged  of  late  in  abridging  the  extent  and  miti- 
gating the  severity  of  the  criminal  code  ?  Why 
this  common  movement  in  one  part  of  our  country 
to  suppress  the  barbarous  practice  of  carrying 
concealed  weapons  ?  and  whence  the  general  effort 
to  protect  the  lives  of  citizens  from  fashionable 
manslaughter  ?  What  say  the  dockets  of  our 
courts,  and  the  number  and  condition  of  our  alms- 
houses, jails,  and  penitentiaries  ? 

Let  us  view  the  subject  as  we  may,  the  picture 
is  anything  but  agreeable,  the  prospect  anything 
but  pleasing ;  and  yet,  there  never  was  a  time 
when  half  the  attempt  was  made  to  diffuse  the 
means  of  education.  How  is  this  to  be  accounted 
for  ?  Here  is  a  new  question  for  the  advocate  of 
social  improvement.  It  is  easily  answered  how- 
ever. There  is  not  the  slightest  room  to  doubt 
that  it  is  owing,  not  to  the  want  of  efficacy  in 
education  properly  so  called,  but  to  almost  univer- 


60  POLITICAL   NECESSITY   OF 

sal  mt^education.  It  is  the  natural  and  unavoid- 
able result  of  sundering  moral  from  intellectual 
culture.  There  is  nothing  in  the  knowledge  that 
two  and  two  are  four  —  that  "  a  verb  is  a  word 
whicli  signifies  to  be,  to  do,  or  to  suffer ;"  and  that 
Paris  is  the  capital  of  France ;  which  is  calculated 
to  prepare  our  youth  for  becoming  virtuous  and 
pious  men,  good  neighbours,  and  orderly  citizens ; 
and  yet  this  is  about  as  near  as  most  of  our  schools, 
(I  speak  with  reference  to  the  nation  at  large,) 
approach  to  an  attempt  to  make  them  such.  We 
should  not  be  surprised  that  society  does  not  be- 
come virtuous  by  miracle.  Means  are  as  neces- 
sary to  ends  in  the  moral,  as  in  the  physical  world. 
The  poet  announces  no  discovery  when  he  says 
that  the  tree  retains  the  inclination  of  the  scion. 
The  philosophers  of  Greece  and  Rome  understood 
full  well  the  dependent  relation  that  exists  between 
youthful  training  and  subsequent  character.  They 
learned  this  from  their  fathers,  and  they  again 
from  theirs.  The  Persians  set  an  example  worthy 
of  imitation,  to  a  great  extent,  by  modern  Chris- 
tians. In  short,  all  history,  and  all  experience, 
together  with  the  universal  sentiments  of  mankind, 
proclaim,  that  if  we  would  have  our  children  turn 
out  virtuous  and  useful  men  and  women,  we  must 
train  them  up  from  infancy  in  the  way  that  they 
should  go:  and  yet  it  is  strange, inexplicably  strange 
on  ordinary  principles  !  whilst  we  admit  all  this 
to  be  true,  we  act  as  if  we  believed  it  false.    Ev- 


RBUOIOUS   EDUCATION.  61 

cry  one  asserts  the  necessity  of  popular  virtue  to 
the  stability  of  our  institutions,  and  of  correct 
education  to  popular  virtue.  The  usual  phrase- 
ology on  this  subject  has  been  repeated  till  it  has 
almost  degenerated  into  cant ;  yet  where  are  the 
statesmen,  the  philanthropists,  or  the  Christian 
ministers,  who  are  doing  justice  to  their  convic- 
tions in  regard  to  it  ? 

It  is  obvious  that  our  sentiments  on  this  subject 
are  far  ahead  of  our  practice.  It  must  be  admit- 
ted, some  slight  approximation  to  the  discharge  of 
duty  in  this  respect  has  been  made  in  our  colleges. 
This,  however,  is  travelling  but  an  inch,  where 
there  is  before  us  a  journey  of  leagues.  Beside, 
it  is  beginning  the  journey  at  the  wrong  end  ;  and 
if  it  were  not,  it  is  stopping  at  the  very  threshold 
of  the  understanding.  It  is  providing  for  units, 
whilst  as  many  thousands  are  neglected.  What 
is  the  number  of  students  in  our  colleges,  to  the 
numbers  in  the  various  subordinate  schools  ?  And 
what  has  been  done  towards  christianizing  edu- 
cation in  these  receptacles  of  the  mass  of  mind  in 
our  country  ?  There  are  in  all  the  colleges  in  the 
Union  less  than  six  thousand  undergraduates  ; 
whilst  the  number  of  pupils,  who  are  or  ought  to 
be  assembled  in  the  different  grades  of  prepara- 
tory schools,  is  not  far  short  oifour  millions. 

Whence,  then,  the  partiality  manifested  towards 
the  inmates  of  the  higher  institutions  ?     The  senti- 
ment is  rapidly  growing  to  practical  maturity, 
6 


62  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

that  every  college  should  be  regarded  as  a  spirit- 
ual charge.  But  where  shall  we  find  an  apology 
for  the  astounding  fact,  that  scarcely  the  first  step 
has  yet  been  taken  towards  a  systematic  effort  at 
incorporating  the  religion  of  the  country,  with  the 
course  pursued  in  those  intellectual  nurseries  in 
which  the  minds  of  the  millions  of  our  juvenile 
population  are  instructed  ? 

As  a  nation,  then,  we  are  guilty  of  the  flagrant 
inconsistency  of  deeming  that  essential,  which  we 
take  no  pains  to  supply.  We  are  chargeable  with 
the  absurdity  of  pronouncing  indispensable,  what 
we  do  habitually  dispense  with.  Which  of  the 
various  public  school  systems  established,  or  pro- 
jected in  the  United  States,  has  practically  recog- 
nised the  connexion  between  popular  virtue,  and 
national  prosperity  ?  Or,  which  of  them  has  made 
appropriate  and  competent  provision  for  the  moral 
as  well  as  the  intellectual  culture  of  the  rising 
generation  ?  And  can  we  reasonably  wonder  that 
society  should  be  harrassed  with  grievous  moral 
evils,  when  the  moral  and  religious  culture  of  the 
young  is  systematically  slighted  ?  It  is  a  solemn 
truth,  fraught  with  great  responsibility  to  commu- 
nities as  well  as  parents,  that  (as  has  been  already 
intimated)  to  neglect  the  moral  education  of  a  child 
is  equivalent  to  miseducating  it ;  that  to  fail  to 
bring  and  keep  it  under  good  influences,  is  to 
abandon  it  to  bad. 

It  is  a  well  established  principle,  that  the  omis- 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION.  63 

sion  of  duty  brings  guilt  as  really  as  the  commis- 
sion of  sin.  If  a  parent  from  laziness,  or  indiffer- 
ence, cause  a  child  to  die  of  hunger  or  of  cold,  he 
is  as  really  guilty  as  if  he  had  brought  about  its 
death  by  poison  or  deadly  blows.  The  applica- 
tion of  this  is  obvious.  Were  a  parent,  for  the 
sake  of  pecuniary  profit,  to  train  a  child  to  steal, 
no  one  could  doubt  the  propriety  of  his  being  cal- 
led to  answer  for  it,  both  to  God  and  man.  But 
what  is  there  to  change  the  nature  of  the  respon- 
sibility, or  the  weight  of  guilt,  when  the  child,  ac- 
cording to  an  obvious  law  of  our  nature,  betakes 
itself  to  stealing  in  consequence  of  the  neglect  of 
the  parent  to  give  it  a  proper  education  ?  Is  it 
not  notoriously  true  that  to  fail  to  inspire  children 
with  sentiments  of  justice,  and  with  respect  for 
the  rights  of  others  is,  for  the  most  part,  virtually 
to  train  them  up  for  theft  and  robbery  ?  In  order 
to  contract  bad  habits,  it  is  only  necessary  that 
we  abstain  from  strenuous  and  persevering  efforts 
to  cherish  good  ones. 

The  only  modifying  consideration  as  to  the 
guilt  incurred  in  such  a  case,  is  the  amount  of  abil- 
ity or  inability,  on  the  part  of  the  parent,  to  be- 
stow a  right  education  on  his  children.  In  the 
case  of  a  Hottentot,  for  instance,  the  total  want 
of  this  would  greatly  palliate,  if  it  did  not  entirely 
excuse  the  fault  of  the  omission.  The  inspired 
volume  teaches  us,  that  a  man  shall  be  judged  ac- 
cording to  his  means  and  opportunities.     But  in  a 


64  POLITICAL    NECESSITY    OF 

civilized  and  Christian  country,  few  parents  can 
plead  this  excuse  ;  society,  never.  It  is  quite  pos- 
sible an  individual  parent  may,  from  sickness, 
death,  or  some  other  uncontrollable  circumstances, 
fail  to  give  his  children  a  proper  education ;  but 
society  never  dies — society  may  always  have 
means  and  opportunities ;  for  its  neglect  therefore 
there  is  no  possible  apology. 

There  is  scarcely  a  greater  or  more  pernicious 
error  anwrig  the  many  complained  of  as  belong- 
ing to  the  education  of  our  day,  than  that  which 
is  evinced  by  the  fact,  that  the  province  of  the  in- 
structer  of  youth  is  confined,  almost  exclusively, 
to  intellectual  culture.  That  children  are  moral 
and  religious  beings,  having  hearts  as  well  as 
heads,  affections  as  well  as  understandings,  seems 
to  be  almost  totally  forgotten  in  the  school-room. 

Were  it  not  for  the  instructive  and  warning 
voice  of  history  on  the  subject,  we  should  be 
tempted  to  regard  the  sentiment  which  correctly 
declares  the  formation  of  character  to  be  the  pri- 
mary object  of  education,  as  one  of  the  novel  de- 
vices of  this  inventive  age.  But  the  works  of 
Xenophen  and  Plato,  of  Cicero,  Seneca,  emd  Quin- 
tilian,  deny  to  us  the  credit  of  the  discovery ;  ex- 
hibiting the  fact  that  Romans,  Grecians,  and  even 
Persians,  made  familiar  application  of  the  truth  %. 
and  that  Christians  of  the  present  day,  after  the 
lapse  of  many  centuries  of  deadness  to  its  impor- 


HELIGIOIJS  EDUCATION.  66 

tance,  are  but  endeavoring  to  reinstate  a  sentiment 
of  heathen  origin. 

The  consistent  practice  of  the  follower  of  the 
False  Prophet  too,  should  raise  a  blush  upon  the 
cheek  of  the  disciple  of  the  Saviour.  The  Koran 
is  the  guide,  the  instrument,  the  sum  of  the  edu- 
cation of  Mahomedan  children  ;  whilst  the  Bible, 
if  introduced  at  all  into  Christian  schools,  is  wield- 
ed with  so  little  skill  and  earnestness,  as  to  have 
raised  a  doubt  whether  the  attempt  is  not  pro- 
ductive of  more  harm  than  good. 

We  cannot  however  be  too  careful,  whilst  in- 
sisting upon  reform  in  this  respect,  that  we  stop 
not  short  of  the  proper  point.  Mere  moral  in- 
struction of  his  offspring,  or  that  which  relates  to 
*■*  loving  our  neighbour  as  ourselves,"  should  never 
satisfy  the  conscience  of  a  Christian  parent,  who 
acknowledges  the  *'  first  and  great  commandment" 
to  be,  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thine  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all 
thy  might."  Children  are  religious  beings ;  that 
is,  they  have  consciences  and  affections  peculiarly 
susceptible  of  religious  impressions  ;  and  the  fail- 
ure to  treat  them  as  such,  can  only  be  regarded 
as  an  act  of  criminal,  not  to  say  unpardonable  infi- 
delity. Children  are  immortal  beings  ;  and  any 
scheme  of  education  which  comes  short  of  a  prac- 
tical recognition  of  this  truth,  overlooks  the  most 
important,  solemn,  and  interesting  relation  they 
sustain. 


W  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

However  it  might  outstretch  the  popular  senti- 
ment, I  know  not  that  it  would  be  going  further 
than  the  principles  now  stated  logically  demand, 
to  assert,  that  wherever  practicable,  the  instruc- 
tors of  youth  should  be  none  other  than  pious 
men.  Once  admit  the  fact  that  the  most  impor- 
tant object  of  education  is  the  culture  of  the 
heart,  and  with  the  Bible  as  the  instrument ;  and 
how  can  others  be  any  thing  else  than  blind  lea- 
ders of  the  blind  ?  The  teacher  is  a  partial  sub- 
stitute for  the  parent;  an  auxiliary  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  most  solemn  duty  imposed  upon 
him  by  Providence.  As  such,  he  undertakes  the 
same  task,  assumes  the  same  responsibilities  ;  nor 
can  he  be  released  from  the  obligation  to  bestow 
religious  instruction  in  this  character,  until  the  fol- 
lowing and  similar  passages  shall,  by  Divine  com- 
mand, have  been  obliterated  from  the  sacred  vol- 
ume :  "  And  these  words,  which  I  command  thee 
this  day,  shall  be  in  thine  heart.  And  thou  shall 
teach  them  diligently  unto  thy  children,  and  shalt 
talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thine  house,  and 
when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thou 
liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up." 

Not  only  should  the  instructor  of  youth  be  him- 
self a  Christian  in  heart  and  practice,  but  he  should 
avowedly  endeavour  to  make  his  pupils  such.  He 
should  aim,  not  only  at  instruction  of  the  under- 
standing, but  impression  of  the  heart.  He  should 
faithfully  use  every  day  in  the  school-room,  all  the 


i  < 


RELIOIOUS   EDUCATION.  67 

variety  of  means  which  the  clergyman  employs 
from  the  pulpit  on  the  Sabbath.  He  should  use 
them  too  in  the  same  spirit ;  for  the  same  purpo- 
ses ;  and  with  the  same  supplicating  dependence 
on  the  Divine  aid  and  blessing.  He  should  ad- 
dress himself  to  the  tender  sensibilities  of  child- 
hood, by  means  of  the  mild  and  melting  consider- 
ations with  which  the  gospel  abounds ;  and  he 
should  make  close  and  specific  appeals  to  their 
consciences  ;  remembering,  that  the  sense  of  mor- 
al obligation  is  in  children  peculiarly  delicate  and 
acute.  The  meaning  of  the  expressions  "  ought," 
and  "ought  not,"  is  perfectly  comprehended  by 
them.  There  are  in  reality,  and  to  the  unsophis- 
ticated mind  of  childhood,  no  simpler  words  in 
our  language.  Adults  create  difficulty  in  regard 
to  them,  by  adventurous  speculation.  Their  sig- 
nification is  so  plain,  as  only  to  be  obscured  by 
any  attempts  at  explanation.  Children,  as  well 
as  those  of  riper  years,  feel  that  they  are  accoun- 
table. They  need  not  that  it  should  be  proved  to 
them.  The  sentiment  of  implicit  obedience  to 
rightful  authority,  is  one,  of  whose  propriety  their 
judgements  are  perfectly  satisfied  ;  and  if  their 
feelings  do  not  practically  acquiesce  in  its  de- 
mands, it  is  owing,  in  a  good  degree,  to  the  in- 
judicious management  to  which  they  have  been 
subjected. 

There  are  no  motives  for  the  government  of 
children,  whether  at  home  or  at  school,  so  cogent, 


68  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

and  at  the  same  time  so  salutary  in  their  opera- 
tion, as  those  which  appeal  directly  to  their  sense 
of  duty.  If  judiciously  administered,  and  with 
proper  reliance  on  the  blessing  of  God,  they  may 
supersede  the  employment  of  force,  of  emulation, 
and  of  all  other  expedients,  whose  propriety  is 
questionable. 

If  the  author  may  be  permitted  to  refer  to  his 
own  practice  and  experience,  for  the  purpose  of 
expressing  his  views  more  clearly  upon  this  sub- 
ject, he  would  state,  that  in  his  prospectus  of  a 
school  established  several  years  ago  in  Louisville, 
Ky.,  there  is  the  following  sentence  :  "  I  deem  it 
due  to  candour  to  specify,  that  I  consider  moral 
education,  or  that  which  aims  at  the  formation  of 
character,  as  of  paramount  importance  ;  and  that 
in  executing  this  sentiment,  the  Bible  will  be  re- 
garded and  used  as  an  ultimate,  sufficient,  and  au- 
thoritative standard ;  whose  promises  and  precepts, 
containing  an  expression  of  the  will  of  God,  fur- 
nish at  once  the  motives,  the  reasons,  and  the 
rules  of  human  duty."  In  accordance  with  this 
avowal,  I  devoted  a  full  hour,  the  first  of  every 
day,  to  religious  exercises.  My  wish  was,  to  em- 
brace within  this  time  all  the  elements  of  an  act 
of  social  worship.  Accordingly,  each  pupil  being 
furnished  with  a  Bible  and  a  Prayer-book,  we  be- 
gan with  some  responsive  exercises  from  the  lat- 
ter ;  then  proceeded  colloquially  with  the  Bible 
lesson ;  next,  sang ;  (in  which  all  joined,  music  be- 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCA.TIOI7.  69 

ing  made  a  regular  branch  of  instruction,)  and 
concluded  with  prayer. 

As  would  naturally  be  supposed,  the  principal 
part  of  the  hour  was  taken  up  with  the  study  of 
the  Bible.  The  whole  school  was  thus  virtually 
resolved  into  a  Bible  Class  ;  and  my  pupils  were 
accustomed  to  regard  the  precepts  of  the  sacred 
volume,  as  the  guide  of  their  daily  conduct.  To 
it  we  repaired  for  our  principles,  our  motives,  our 
rules  of  life.  They  were  directed  to  look  upon  it 
too,  as  containing  the  code  of  laws  for  the  school, 
which  both  teachers  and  pupils  were  under  a  com- 
mon and  equal  obligation  to  obey;  and  I  take  de- 
light in  bearing  my  feeble  testimony  in  favour  of 
the  efficacy  and  sufficiency  of  the  moral  influences 
derived  from  this  source.  I  used  no  other  in  the 
government  of  my  school ;  and  every  day's  expe- 
rience but  strengthened  the  conviction  that  I  need- 
ed no  other. 

Here,  however,  I  deem  it  very  important  to 
specify,  that  I  found  every  thing  depend  upon  my 
basing  all  upon  the  footing  of  duty.  God  hath 
spoken,  and  therefore  we  are  hound  to  listen,  is  a 
proposition  which  arrests  the  conscience  of  a  child 
more  readily  by  far  than  that  of  an  adult ;  and 
the  preacher  in  the  pulpit,  may  just  as  reasonably 
expect  success  and  God's  blessing  in  moderating 
this  requirement,  as  the  teacher  in  the  school- 
room. The  man  is  but  an  expansion  of  the  boy  5 
the  same,  not  a  different  being ;   and  I  am  fuUy 


70  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

persuaded,  that  the  principles  and  motives  by 
which  religion  requires  that  we  regulate  our  feel- 
ings and  conduct  in  after  life,  are  precisely  those 
to  which  we  should  be  accustomed  by  incessant 
practice,  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  reason.  In 
this  consists  more  than  half,  and  that  the  better 
half  of  education. 

And  why  may  not  these  principles  be  carried 
out  in  every  school  in  our  country  ?  I  confess  I 
see  no  reason  whatever  to  the  contrary,  but  that 
Christians,  and  especially  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
do  not  will  it.  That  the  community  is  ready  to 
welcome  such  a  course,  at  least  in  some  instances, 
(and  I  now  allude  to  a  region  which  by  public 
fame  is  not  the  most  religious,)  I  bear  my  grate- 
ful testimony.  I  never  experienced  the  slightest 
difficulty,  nor  heard  the  first  objection  to  my  prac- 
tice in  this  respect.  It  is  a  curious  and  interesting 
fact,  that  whatever  may  be  their  own  sentiments 
and  feelings  in  regard  to  religion,  most  men  wish 
their  own  children,  and  the  children  of  the  com- 
munity at  large,  to  be  brought  up  under  the  in- 
fluence of  pious  principles.  The  painful  experi- 
ence of  many  men  of  wealth  convinces  them,  that 
nothing  can  save  their  sons  from  becoming  spend- 
thrifts and  vagabonds,  but  a  religious  education; 
and  the  alarming  tendency  to  popular  lawlessness, 
which  manifests  itself,  as  readily  in  those  regions 
where  public  schools  have  done  the  most,  as  in 
those  where  they  have  not  yet  taken  root,  is  rap- 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION.  71 

idly  undermining  that  self-complacent  confidence, 
(which  hitherto  has  characterized  us  as  a  nation,) 
in  intelligence  alone,  as  a  sufficient  safeguard  of 
our  social  institutions. 

Should  it  be  objected  here,  that  however  desi- 
rable the  application  of  these  principles  for  the 
purposes  of  national  education,  we  have  not  teach- 
ers fitted  by  professional  training  to  carry  them 
into  effect ;  then  why  not  educate  them  for  their 
business,  as  we  educate  physicians,  lawyers,  and 
mechanics  ?  Never  did  the  eye  of  Heaven  take 
cognizance  of  a  more  glaring  and  pernicious  error 
than  that  which  not  only  tolerates,  but  constrains 
the  commission  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  cul- 
ture of  the  immortal  mind  to  untrained  novices. 
Its  parallel  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  annals  of  hu- 
man folly  ;  and,  certainly,  if  we  look  at  consequen- 
ces, its  equal  does  not  exist  in  the  records  of  hu- 
man misfortune.  The  reasoning  by  which  its  ab- 
surdity is  exposed,  need  not  advance  one  step 
beyond  the  employment  of  axioms.  How  can  we 
expect  good  work  without  good  workmen  ?  And 
how  can  these  exist  without  appropriate  educa- 
tion ? 

But  it  is  not  conviction,  so  much  as  impression 
on  this  subject,  that  society  stands  in  need  of. 
Most  solemnly  therefore  would  I  appeal  to  the 
consciences  of  Christians,  and  of  Christian  minis- 
ters, for  the  prompt  and  thorough  rectification  of 
this  enormous  evil.  On  them  devolves  the  weighty 
i£9i  no Jiaw  )««U  snuaoqaiou  ban  luoboao  oiU  iMi  ^ 


73  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

responsibility  of  awakening  and  enlightening  pub- 
lic sentiment  on  this  momentous  subject ;  and 
through  its  agency,  essential  in  this  country,  of 
achieving  a  reform  in  national  education,  which 
in  Europe  has  been  effected  in  some  instances  by 
the  application  of  arbitrary  power. 

Christian  parents !  remember  you  are  God's 
stewards ;  and  that  children  are  the  most  impor- 
tant trust  which  Heaven  has  committed  to  your 
care.  How  then  can  you  reconcile  it  to  yourselves 
to  bring  them  up  in  even  partial  forgetfulness  of 
their  relation  to  another  world  ?  And  how  can 
you  continue  to  delegate  their  education  to  a 
class  of  men,  in  whom  professional  fidelity  and 
skill  cannot  reasonably  be  expected,  because  from 
the  very  nature  of  the  case,  they  are  impractica- 
ble ? 

Fathers  and  brethren  of  the  ministry  !  let  us 
awake  to  a  sense  of  the  weighty  obligation  that 
devolves  upon  us  from  the  peculiar  nature  of  our 
political  institutions.  Beuig  a  Christian  people, 
let  us  resolve  that  we  will  have  a  Christian 
education  for  our  offspring.  Let  Mohamme- 
dan consistency  shame  us  into  the  performance 
of  our  duty  in  this  particular.  Let  us  hence- 
forth inscribe  upon  the  doorposts  of  our  school  - 
houses,  as  well  as  upon  the  lintels  of  (he  sanc- 
tuary, "  Holiness  to  the  Lord."  Let  us,  with 
united  heart  and  voice,  proclaim  it  to  our  fellow- 
titizens  throughout  the  nation ;  (and  let  us  do  it 
»vith  the  candour  and  composure  that  wait  on  real 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION.  73 

firmness ;)  that  however  we  may  be  divided  upon 
other  points,  on  this  we  know  no  discord  of  feel- 
ing or  opinion  —  that  as  worshippers  of  a  common 
Father ;  as  disciples  of  the  same  Redeemer ;  we 
are  firmly  resolved  to  rally  round  the  Bible  they 
have  given  us,  as  the  only  moral  guide  of  our  off- 
spring —  that  whatever  others  may  do,  we  are 
determined  to  "  train  up  ours  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord  "  —  and  that  if  they  would 
have  us  continue  to  educate  their  children,  they 
must  consent  that  we  shall  do  it  upon  Christian 
principles. 

It  is  possible,  some  may  apprehend,  that  by  be- 
stowing upon  the  moral  part  of  our  nature  the 
amount  of  attention  recommended,  the  proper 
cultivation  of  the  intellectual  would  be  neglected  ; 
tliat  by  devoting  so  much  study  to  the  Bible,  the 
sciences  and  various  other  branches  of  ordinary 
knowledge  would  be  slighted.  But  for  such  a 
fear  there  is  less  than  the  shadow  of  occasion. 
The  culture  of  the  moral  faculties,  so  far  from  be- 
ing incompatible  with  the  cultivation  of  the  in- 
tellectual, not  only  favours,  but  is  essential  to  its 
full  achievement.  There  is  a  stern  necessity  im- 
posed by  Providence,  which  should  command  our 
admiration  and  our  thanks,  that  to  perfect  one 
part  of  our  spiritual  nature,  we  must  improve  the 
whole.  A  harmoniously  educated  head  and  heart 
are  the  columns  on  which  the  edifice  of  human 
character  and  greatness,  whether  individual  or 
7 


74  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

social,  rests ;  and  if  either  be  defective,  the  entire 
fabric  is  in  danger. 

One  of  the  most  comprehensive  reasons  why 
we  have  so  signally  failed  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
head,  is,  that  we  have  neglected  to  take  along 
with  it  the  cultivation  of  the  heart.     It  may  ap- 
pear like  superstition  to  such  as  deny  themselves 
the  inestimable  benefits  flowing  from  the  practice 
of  prayer ;  but  with  such  as  have  experienced  its 
advantages,  the  assertion  will  gain  a  hearty  cre- 
dence, that  the  understanding  is  never  in  a  better 
condition  to  take  clear,  unbiassed,  safe,  and  am- 
ple views  of  truth,  than  in  those  calm  and  hallow- 
ed moments,  when  the  passions  have  been  lulled, 
the  spirits  tranquilized,  the  affections  purified,  and 
the  purpose  of  amendment  strengthened  by  com- 
munion with  one's  Maker.     This  throws  the  mind 
into  a  state  the  most  favourable  which  can  be  im- 
agined, for  an  impartial  consideration  of  evidence. 
Nothing  is  more  conducive  to  a  healthy  condi- 
tion of  the  intellectual  powers,  than  to  keep  the 
heart   habitually   under   the  influence  of  worthy 
feelings.     Philosophy  herself  is  obliged  to  attest 
this,  when  she    states  the   manner  in  which  the 
passions  impose  on  the  understanding,  and  goes  in- 
to a  specification  of  those  various  "  idols "  that 
mislead  and  warp  the  judgement.     To  these,  her 
theory  and  history  both,  ascribe  the  origin  of  most 
of  the  errors  which  pervade  society ;  and  sanc- 
tion the  opinion,  that  the  reason  why  the  truth  is 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION,  75 

SO  little  known,  is  not  because  it  is  hard  to  be 
discovered,  but  because  mankind  are  led  astray 
by  the  force  of  that  mis-education  which  consists 
in  the  neglect  of  moral  culture. 

That  the  education  of  the  moral  faculties  is  es- 
sential to  the  full  developement  of  the  intellectual, 
is  a  truth  whose  general  acknowledgement  and 
application  are  destined  to  exert  a  powerful  influ- 
ence in  favour  of  the  best  interests  of  the  human 
family.  It  is  truly  animating  to  see  it  apparently 
originating  with  so  many  different  men  of  emi- 
nent wisdom,  and  proclaimed  as  one  of  the  most 
important  facts  connected  with  intellectual  and 
moral  science.  This  is  one  of  the  man)"^  instances 
in  which  an  important  truth  simultaneously  sug- 
gests itself  to  different  individuals,  and  which  al- 
most make  us  fancy  that  when  a  new  idea  of  mo- 
ment to  the  happiness  of  man  is  to  be  introduced 
on  earth,  a  beneficent  angel  is  despatched  to  drop 
it  into  the  minds  of  persons  widely  separated 
from  each  other.  It  is  delightful  also  to  perceive 
that  systems  which  by  some  are  regarded  as  an- 
tagonists, harmonize  completely  on  this  point. 
Modern  philosophy  and  the  Christian  Religion 
conspire  to  enforce  the  truth,  that  education  should 
have  reference  to  the  entire  being ;  and  pre-emi- 
nently that  in  all  its  arrangements  it  should  ac- 
knowledge the  supremacy  of  the  moral  powers. 

For  these  and  other  reasons  which  might  be 
stated,  it  is  the  sacred  duty  of  all  the  friends  of 


76  POLITICAL  NECESSITY  OF 

religion,  of  their  country,  and  of  man,  to  contend 
with  uncompromising  earnestness  for  the  re-union 
of  intellectual  and  moral  education. 

This  union  is  equally  essential  for  the  safety 
and  well-being  of  the  State  and  of  the  Church. 
May  they  not  be  too  tardy  in  making  the  discov- 
ery !  God  grant  that  the  conviction  may  not  come 
too  late  to  be  savingly  applied  !  The  providence 
of  God  is  evidently  calling  our  attention  as  a  peo- 
ple to  the  necessity  of  this  association,  reminding 
us  of  our  neglect,  and  admonishing  us  in  the  most 
solemn  manner  of  our  danger  and  our  duty.  The 
occurrence  at  the  same  juncture,  of  excesses  in 
religion  from  want  of  intellectual  ballast,  and  of 
popular  disregard  of  law  from  want  of  religious 
principle,  is  calculated  not  only  to  bring  us  to  re^- 
flection,  but  to  show  us  our  error.  It  were  diffi- 
cult to  tell  which  is  in  the  most  critical  condition, 
the  Government  or  the  Church.  It  is  evident  they 
are  both  alarmed,  not  only  for  their  prosperity, 
but  for  their  future  safety.  Hitherto  they  seem 
to  have  acted  under  the  assumption  that  their  in- 
terests were  not  coincident,  if  not  at  variance. 
They  appear  to  have  been  trying  opposite  experi- 
ments ;  the  Church  by  her  neglect  of  general  edu- 
cation, endeavouring  to  dispense  with  popular  in- 
telligence ;  and  the  Gk)verninent,  with  religion. 

I  humbly  trust,  however,  they  are  about  to  per- 
ceive their  mistake.  God  in  his  providence  is 
kindly  showing  us  the  futility  of  attempting  to 


li 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION.  77 

sever  things  which  in  their  very  nature  are  insep- 
arable. He  has  joined  them  together  by  indis- 
soluble ties,  and  is  allowing  our  embarrassing  ex- 
perience to  teach  us  that  what  God  has  joined 
together,  man  cannot  with  impunity  even  attempt 
to  put  asunder.  i 

In  originally  severing  the  connexion  of  church 
and  state,  there  appears  to  have  been  an  attempt 
to  carry  the  dissolution  further  than  their  outward 
union.  In  the  general  breaking  up  at  the  period 
of  our  revolution,  it  would  seem  as  if  there  had 
been  a  formal  division  of  the  faculties  of  the  soul ; 
the  church,  taking  the  heart ;  and  the  state,  the 
head. 

It  does  not  militate  against  this  view,  that  the 
church  has  had  the  guardianship  of  education  in 
our  colleges ;  and  that  government  has  given  its 
authoritative  sanction  to  the  Christian  Sabbath, 
and  has  guarantied  protection  to  the  rights  of 
conscience.  It  is  evident  that  the  latter  has  taken 
the  form  without  the  spirit,  the  body  without  the 
soul;  the  mere  ceremonies  and  outward  institu- 
tions of  religion  without  its  vital  energy  and 
substance ;  and  that  the  former  has  acted  as 
though  she  thought  the  province  of  education 
did  not  reach  to  the  formation  of  character ;  as 
if  its  business  were  altogether  foreign  from  the 
cultivation  of  the  moral  powers.  Though  not 
proceeding  to  the  atheistical  extent  of  the  French 
revolutionists,  yet  whatever  may  have  been  the 
7* 


78  POLITICAL    NECESSITY   OF 

opinions  and  solemn  warnings  of  such  men  as 
Washington  to  the  contrary,  our  governments  have 
practically  demanded  for  themselves  intelligence 
alone  ;  and  the  church,  by  one  of  the  strangest  and 
most  fatal  inconsistencies  to  be  found  in  her  entire 
history,  has  consented  in  the  main,  to  conduct  the 
education  of  the  country  with  faithful  reference 
to  this  unnatural  and  irreligious  separation.  It 
cannot  be  disputed  that  the  education  of  the  youth 
of  our  country  at  large,  has  been  anything  but 
Christian  ;  that  it  has  been  addressed  to  the  un- 
derstanding almost  to  the  total  neglect  of  the  will 
and  the  affections. 


SECTION   IV. 

Protest  of  Dr.  Rush  against  the  exclusion  of  the  Bible  from 
schools.  —  Cousin's  views  of  the  importance  of  Religious  Edu- 
cation. 

In  presenting  the  views  detailed  in  the  preceding 
sections,  the  author  lays  no  claim  whatever  to 
originality.  They  are  at  present  entertained  by 
thousands,  having  been  transmitted  to  us  by  the 
patriots  and  Christians  of  another  generation.  His 
only  object  is  to  "  stir  up  the  minds  of  others  by 
way  of  remembrance,"  and  to  aid  in  exciting  a 
practical  attention  to  truths,  about  which,  although 
their  importance  is  passively  admitted,  there  pre- 
vails an  unfortunate,  culpable,  and  alarming  indif- 
ference in  this  Christian  country. 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION.  79 

As  long  ago  as  1791,  the  venerable  Dr.  Rush 
foresaw  the  moral  evils  w^hich  now  menace  our 
institutions ;  and  he  considered  them  contingent 
on  our  neglect  of  the  religious  education  of  our 
children.  Convinced,  with  Washington,  that  for 
her  future  welfare,  no  less  than  for  her  then  recent 
deliverance,  our  country  was  essentially  depend- 
ent on  the  favour  of  the  Governor  of  the  universe, 
he  asserted  the  duty  and  the  policy  of  having  the 
children  of  the  nation  educated  in  his  fear.  His 
discerning  mind  perceived  that  there  was  danger, 
lest  in  severing  the  outward  connexion  of  church 
and  state,  the  process  of  political  reform  should 
banish  the  spirit  of  religion  also  from  our  govern- 
ments. He  therefore  raised  his  voice,  and  em- 
ployed his  pen,  to  assert  the  province  of  the  Bible 
ift  the  work  of  education,  and  to  protest  against 
its  banishment  from  our  elementary  schools. 

In  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  a  defence  of  the  Bible 
as  a  school  book,"  he  remarks  —  "In  contempla- 
ting the  political  institutions  of  the  United  States, 
I  lament  that  we  waste  so  much  time  and  money 
in  punishing  crimes,  and  take  so  little  pains  to 
prevent  them.  We  profess  to  be  republicans, 
and  yet  we  neglect  the  only  means  of  establishing 
and  perpetuating  our  republican  forms  of  govern- 
ment, that  is,  the  universal  education  of  our  youth 
in  the  principles  of  Christianity,  by  means  of  the 
Bible ;  for  this  Divine  book,  above  all  others,  fa- 
vours that  equality  among  mankind  —  that  respect 


80  POLITICAL   NECESSITY   OF 

for  just  laws,  and  all  those  sober  and  frugal  virtue^s 
which  constitute  the  soul  of  republicanism. 

"The  present  fashionable  practice  of  rejecting  the 
Bible  from  our  schools,  I  suspect  has  originated 
with  the  deists.  They  discover  great  ingenuity  in 
this  new  mode  of  attacking  Christianity.  If  they 
proceed  in  it,  they  will  do  more  in  half  a  century, 
in  extirpating  our  religion,  than  Bolingbroke  or 
Voltaire  could  have  effected  in  a  thousand  years. 
I  am  not  writing  to  this  class  of  people.  /  loish 
only  to  alter  the  opinions  and  conduct  of  those 
lukewarm  or  superstitious  Christians,  who  have  been 
misled  by  the  deists  on  the  subject.  On  the  ground 
of  the  good  old  custom  of  using  the  Bible  as  a 
school  book, it  becomes  us  to  entrench  our  religion." 
It  is  with  no  ordinary  satisfaction  I  find  myself 
able  to  corroborate  the  views  which  have  been 
advanced  in  this  chapter,  by  adding  to  the  author- 
ity of  Dr.  Rush,  that  of  the  celebrated  Victor 
Cousin.  It  will  be  perceived,  by  the  following 
extracts  from  his  "  Report  on  the  State  of  Public 
Instruction  in  Prussia,"  that  in  every  position  of 
moment  I  am  signally  sustained  by  the  views  of 
this  distinguished  statesman  and  philanthropist. 
For  instance,  he  asserts  with  singular  boldness, 
the  necessity  of  making  popular  instruction  moral, 
and  even  religious ;  declaring  it  to  be  of  vital  mo- 
ment, that  the  education  of  the  country  should  be 
made  thoroughly  Christian.  He  even  goes  much 
further  than  I  have  done,  affirming  that  if  govern- 


RELIGIOtJS   EDUCATION.  81 

ment  order  it  otherwise,  the  clergy  ought  to  oppose 
them !  He  seems  dfeeply  impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  piety  in  schoolmasters,  and  urges  the 
expediency  of  making  it  a  professional  requisite. 
The  Bible,  too,  he  declares  to  be  the  great  instru- 
ment of  religious  instruction,  and  moral  culture ; 
and  he  insists  with  manly  eloquence,  upon  the 
duty  and  policy  of  frankness  in  expressing  our 
sentiments  upon  such  subjects. 

In  giving  his  opinion  of  the  "  authority  to  be 
employed  "  in  executing  a  system  of  national  ed- 
ucation, he  remarks  :  —  "  After  the  administrative 
authorities,  it  is  unquestionably  the  clergy  who 
ought  to  occupy  the  most  important  place  in  the 
business  of  popular  education.  We  must  have 
the  clergy ;  we  must  neglect  nothing  to  bring  them 
into  the  path  toward  which  every  thing  urges  them 
to  turn  —  both  their  obvious  interest,  and  their 
sacred  calling,  and  the  ancient  services  which  their 
order  rendered  to  the  cause  of  civilization  in  Eu- 
rope. But  if  we  wish  to  have  the  clergy  allied 
with  us  in  the  business  of  popular  instruction,  that 
instruction  must  not  he  stripped  of  morals  and  re- 
ligion ;  for  then  indeed  it  would  become  the  duty 
of  the  clergy  to  oppose  it,  and  they  would  have  the 
sympathy  of  all  virtuous  men,  of  all  good  fathers 
of  families,  and  even  of  the  mass  of  the  people,  on 
their  side. 

"Thank  God,  sir,  you  are  too  enlightened  a 
statesman  to  think  that  true  popular  instruction 


82  POLITICAL   NECESSITY   OF 

can  exist  without  moral  education,  popular  morality 
without  religion,  or  popular  religion  without  a 
church.  Christianity  ought  to  be  the  basis  of  the 
instruction  of  the  people  ;  we  must  not  Jlinch  from 
an  open  profession  of  this  maxim  ;  it  is  no  less 
politic  than  it  is  honest.  We  baptize  our  children, 
and  bring  them  up  in  the  Christian  faith,  and  in 
the  bosom  of  the  church  ;  in  after  life,  age,  reflec- 
tion, the  breath  of  human  opinions  modify  their 
early  impressions;  but  it  is  good  that  these  im- 
pressions should  have  been  made  by  Christianity. 
Popular  education  ought  therefore  to  be  religious, 
that  is  to  say,  Christian  ;  for  I  repeat  it,  there  is 
no  such  thing  as  religion  in  general :  in  Europe, 
and  in  our  day,  religion  means  Christianity.  Let 
our  popular  schools  then  he  Christian ;  let  them  be 
so  entirely  and  earnestly. ^^  —  p.  124,  126. 

Again  at  page  228,  he  proceeds :  —  "  Without 
neglecting  physical  science  and  the  knowledge, 
applicable  to  the  arts  of  life,  we  must  make  moral 
science,  which  is  of  far  higher  importance,  our 
main  object.  The  mind  and  the  character  are 
what  a  true  master  ought  above  all  to  fashion. 
We  must  lay  the  foundations  of  moral  life  in  the 
souls  of  our  young  masters,  and  therefore  we 
must  place  religious  instruction,  that  is,  to  speak 
distinctly,  Christian  instruction,  in  the  first  ranks 
in  the  education  in  our  normal  schools.  I  would 
particularly  urge  this  point,  sir,  which  is  the  most 
important  and  the  most  delicate  of  all. 


/9 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION.  83 

"  The  popular  schools  of  a  nation,  ought  to  be 
imbued  with  the  religious  spirit  of  that  nation. 
Now,  without  going  into  the  question  of  diversities 
of  doctrine,  is  Christianity,  or  is  it  not  the  religion 
of  the  people  of  France  1  It  cannot  be  denied  that 
it  is.  I  ask,  then,  is  it  "our  object  to  respect  the 
religion  of  the  people,  or  to  destroy  it  ?  If  we 
mean  to  set  about  destroying  it,  then  I  allow,  we 
ought  by  no  means  to  have  it  taught  in  the  people's 
schools.  But  if  the  object  we  propose  to  ourselves 
is  totally  different,  we  must  teach  our  children 
that  religion  which  civilized  our  fathers ;  that  re- 
ligion, whose  liberal  spirit  prepared  and  can  alone 
sustain,  all  the  great  institutions  of  modern  times. 

"  We  must  also  permit  the  clergy  to  fulfil  their 
first  duty  —  the  superintendence  of  religious  in- 
struction. But  in  order  to  stand  the  test  of  this 
superintendence  with  honour,  ^Ae  schoolmaster  must 
be  able  to  give  adequate  religious  instruction.  The 
less  we  desire  our  schools  to  be  ecclesiastical,  the 
more  ought  they  to  be  Christian.  It  necessarily 
follows  that  there  must  be  a  course  of  special  re- 
ligious instruction  in  our  normal  schools.  Religion 
is,  in  my  eyes,  the  best,  perhaps  the  only,  basis  of 
popular  education.  I  know  something  of  Europe, 
and  never  have  I  seen  good  schools  where  the 
spirit  of  Christian  charity  was  wanting.  Primary 
instruction  flourishes  in  three  countries,  Holland, 
Germany,  and  Scotland — in  all  it  is  profoundly 
religious. 


84  POLITICAL  NECESSITY   OF 

•*  The  more  I  think  of  all  this,  sir ;  the  more  I 
look  at  the  schools  in  this  country  ;  the  more  I  talk 
with  the  directors  of  normal  schools,  and  counsel- 
lors of  the  ministers, — the  more  1  am  strengthened 
in  the  conviction  that  we  must  make  any  efforts 
or  any  sacrifices  to  come  to  a  good  understanding 
with  the  clergy,  on  the  subject  of  popular  educa- 
tion, and  to  constitute  religion  a  special  and  very 
carefully  taught  branch  of  instruction,  in  our  pri- 
mary normal  schools. 

"  1  am  not  ignorant,  sir,  that  this  advice  will 
grate  on  the  ears  of  many  persons,  and  that  I  shall 
be  thought  extremely  devot  at  Paris.  Yet  it  is 
not  from  Rome,  but  from  Berlin  that  I  address  you. 
The  man  who  holds  this  language  to  you  is  a  phi- 
losopher, formerly  disliked  and  even  persecuted 
by  the  priesthood  ;  but  this  philosopher  has  a 
mind  too  little  affected  by  the  recollection  of  his 
own  insults,  and  is  too  well  acquainted  with  human  ^ 
nature  and  with  history  not  to  regard  religion  as 
an  indestructible  power;  genuine  Christianity,  as 
a  means  of  civiUzation  for  the  people,  and  a  neces- 
sary support  for  those  on  whom  society  imposes 
irksome  and  burdensome  duties,  without  the  slight- 
est prospect  of  fortune,  without  the  least  gratifica- 
tion of  self-love." 

There  is  something  more  than  magnanimity, 
there  is  a  moral  sublimity  in  the  character  of  such 
a  man  as  Cousin,  when  we  take  into  consideration 
the  people  to  whom  he  speaks,  and  the  circum- 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION.  85 

stances  under  which  he  proclaims  such  sentiments. 
If,  in  perusing  my  humble  reasoning,  the  reader 
have  been  ready  to  utter  the  charge  of  fanaticism, 
or  extravagance,  he  will  certainly  retract  it  when 
he  reflects  upon  the  statements  of  the  French  phi- 
lanthropist. Surely,  that  American  is  behind  the 
age,  and  cannot  be  imbued  with  the  genuine  spirit 
of  his  institutions,  who  shall  complain  of  the  Court 
of  France,  as  being  too  religious  in  its  sentiments. 

And  only  think  of  it : — a  French  Philosopher  set- 
ting an  example  to  American  Christians,  and  even 
Clergymen  ! — uttering  with  unflinching  frankness, 
and  to  a  "  nation  of  infidels,"  sentiments  which 
are  but  being  broached  in  this  land  of  liberty  and 
Bibles ;  and  that,  with  a  timid  caution,  more  wor- 
thy of  another  cause,  and  more  becoming  the  dis- 
ciples of  another  master  than  of  Him,  whose 
crowning  example  was,  to  lay  down  his  life  for 
his  principles.  If  there  be  wisdom  in  the  maxim 
which  enjoins  upon  us  to  learn  even  from  an  ene- 
my ;  surely,  heedlessness  were  sinful,  when  our 
duty  is  made  known  to  us  from  such  a  source  as 
this. 

O,  shame  on  our  cowardly  remissness  !  Chris- 
tian brethren  ;  if  for  a  moment  longer  we  hesitate 
to  think  and  speak,  and  act,  as  duty  bids  us,  —  let 
us  at  once  set  out  upon  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Court 
of  Versailles,  to  have-our  Christianity  quickened. 


<«, 


CHAPTER   III. 


OF    THE    ESSENTIAL    FEATURES    OP    A    SYSTEM    OF 
NATIONAL    EDUCATION. 


The  questions  proposed  in  the  commencement 
of  this  volume  are, 

What  kind  and  amount  of  education  do  the  cir- 
cumstances of  society  in  the  United  States  require 
all  its  members  should  receive  ? 

What,  and  how  much,  is  every  child,  irrespec- 
tively of  the  character  or  condition  of  its  parents, 
entitled  to  claim,  and  government  consequently 
bound  to  give  ?  and 

What  arrangements  had  best  be  made  for  the 
purpose  of  complying  with  this  requirement,  of 
meeting  these  claims,  and  of  discharging  this  obli- 
gation ? 

These  questions,  (the  two  first  of  which  in  reality 
come  to  one  and  the  same  thing,  since  the  kind  and 
amount  of  education  which  society  is  essentially  in- 
terested each  individual  shall  possess,  are  precisely 
what  he  has  a  right  to  claim,  and  government  is  un- 
der obligationto  bestow,)  cover  the  whole  ground  of 
the  subject  of  national  education.  This,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  foregoing  queries,  naturally  divides 


OF    NATIONAL    EDUCATION.  87 

itself  into  two  departments ;  the  first,  relating  to 
the  character  of  the  elementary  education  to  be 
given  ;  and  the  second,  to  the  provision  and  appli- 
cation of  means.  I  propose  to  treat  of  both  of 
these  in  the  present  chapter ;  or,  in  other  words, 
to  the  best  of  my  ability,  to  answer  the  inquiry, 

WHAT  ARE  THE  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 
OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION,  SUITED  TO  THE  UNITED 
STATES  ? 

In  executing  this  task,  I  have  so  constructed 
my  remarks  as  to  answer  another  very  important 
purpose  at  the  same  time,  viz ;  that  of  pointing 
out  the  dependent  relation  which  wise  and  effec- 
tive legislation  on  this  subject  sustains  to  public 
sentiment.  The  history  of  legislative  efforts  for 
the  spread  of  education,  clearly  shows  that  this 
has  been  too  much  overlooked,  and  that  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  cause  has  been  retarded  by  the 
people  being  encouraged  to  depend  too  much  upon 
their  governments,  while,  in  reality,  their  govern- 
ments have  been  waiting  for  their  instigation. 

There  is  no  inference  more  deducible  from  the 
experience  of  our  eastern  states  in  regard  to  com- 
mon schools,  than  the  proposition,  that  nothing 
whatever  can  be  achieved  by  legislation,  unless 
the  people  be  previously  or  simultaneously  inte- 
rested. It  is  to  public  sentiment,  much  more  than 
to  their  legislatures,  that  the  New-England  States 
are  indebted  for  their  signal  attention  to  education. 
That  public  sentiment,  the  present  generation  of 


88  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

their  inhabitants  has  inherited  ;  and  a  more  valu- 
able legacy  could  not  have  been  bequeathed  them 
by  their  fathers.  It  was  started  and  cherished  by 
the  religion  of  the  Puritans.  In  a  majority  of 
the  states,  however,  it  has  to  be  created  ;  for  it 
does  not  exist,  and  its  agency  is  indispensable. 
Without  its  aid,  legislation  is  altogether  powerless. 
What  can  a  republican  government  accomplish 
on  any  subject,  without  the  hearty  concurrence  of 
the  people  ?  It  may  pass  laws,  and  devise  the  most 
plausible,  and  to  appearance,  practicable  schemes ; 
but  unless  a  popular  interest  be  excited  in  their 
favour,  all  will  be  to  no  purpose.  Supposing  the 
legislature  stands  in  need  of  funds  to  carry  out  its 
plans,  how  are  they  to  be  supplied  unless  the  peo- 
ple furnish  them  ?  —  By  taxation  ?  But  what  if 
the  people  will  not  consent  ?  and  they  will  not 
consent,  unless  they  first  be  prepossessed  in  favour 
of  the  object,  for  which  the  funds  thus  raised  are 
to  be  expended.  Even  supposing,  however,  that 
with  reference  to  a  scheme  of  education,  the  funds 
are  furnished,  and  their  plan  arranged  ;  — who  are 
to  put  it  into  operation  ?  The  ordinary  executive 
officers  ?  It  is  impossible  for  any  legislative  body 
in  this  country,  to  act  independently  of  local  inte- 
rest in  such  a  case.  The  despotic  power  of  a 
worthy  Prussian  Monarch  may  dispense  with  this  ; 
because,  when  out  of  the  royal  treasury  he  has 
provided  houses,  books,  and  teachers  ;  he  may,  by 
the  imposition  of  fines,  or  by  other  compulsory 


/J 


OF   NATIONAL    EDUCATION.  89 

measures,  coerce  the  education  of  the  children  of 
his  peasantry.  But  in  a  free  government,  where 
neighbourhood  influence  is  to  be  exerted,  legisla- 
tion is  mere  paper  work,  unless  neighbourhood 
interest  be  first  awakened. 

This  will  account  for  the  failure  of  many  laud- 
able governmental  efforts  for  the  benefit  of  educa- 
tion. Their  measures,  however  wise  and  practi- 
cable in  themselves,  did  not  reach  the  people  ; 
because,  not  having  emanated  from  the  people  ; 
they  were  not  seconded,  sustained,  and  executed 
by  the  people. 

For  the  sake  of  illustration,  I  may  mention,  that 
when  on  a  visit  to  New-England  for  the  purpose 
of  examining  her  common  school  systems,  being 
in  Massachusetts,  I  was  attracted  to  the  towns  of 
Worcester  and  Springfield,  by  the  distant  reputa- 
tion of  their  schools ;  and  I  felt  at  no  loss  to  ac- 
count for  their  superior  excellence,  on  being  made 
acquainted  with  two  or  three  intelligent,  patriotic 
gentlemen,  who  spared  no  pains  to  awaken  the 
interest  of  the  people  to  the  education  of  their 
children ;  enforced  with  considerable  rigour  the 
statute  requiring  the  examination  of  instructers ; 
assisted  and  encouraged  the  teachers  by  advice 
and  frequent  visits ;  and  paid  particular  attention 
to  procuring  the  composition  and  distribution  of 
the  best  school  books. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  when  the  people  are 
indifferent  to   any  object,  legislatures  cannot  and 
8* 


90  ESSENTIA-Ii   FEATURES   OF  A  SYSTEM 

dare  not  move  towards  its  accomplishment ;  and 
painful  and  invidious  as  the  task  may  be.  I  deem 
it  necessary  to  prove,  in  the  course  of  the  remarks 
relating  particularly  to  the  immediate  subject  of 
this  chapter,  that  the  people  of  the  United  States 
in  general,  certainly  a  majority  of  them,  are  not 
prepared  to  vs^elcome,  or  even  to  tolerate,  (I  am 
sure  the  expression  is  not  too  strong,)  a  proper 
scheme  of  national  education. 

For  example,  — in  perhaps  the  larger  part  of  the 
Union,  the  people  are  not  prepared  to  admit  the 
essential  principle  which,  for  more  than  two  hun- 
dred years,  has  been  assumed  in  England  as  the 
basis  of  their  common  school  systems,  viz  :  the 
doctrine  of  "ad  valorem  contribution," — the  right 
and  duty  of  government  to  tax  the  people  accord- 
ing to  their  means,  for  the  education  of  their 
children.  They  have  yet  to  be  familiarized  with 
the  idea,  to  be  reasoned  into  a  conviction  of  its 
truth;  and  it  is  rare  a  legislature  can  be  found 
possessing  sufficient  disinterestedness  or  moral 
firmness,  to  press  the  delicate  subject  of  taxation 
beyond  the  well  ascertained  wishes  of  their  con- 
stituents. And  what  good  if  they  did  ?  Their 
acts,  in  such  event,  would  only  be  reversed  with 
vengeance  on  themselves. 

This  being  the  case,  a  recognition  of  the  fact 
when  treating  of  the  elements  of  a  scheme  of 
national  education  with  a  practical  aim,  is  obvi- 
ously important ;  since  it  immediately  suggests 


«^ 


OF    NATIONAL    EDUCATION.  91 

the  necessity  of  the  preliminary  work  of  prepar- 
ing the  public  mind,  before  we  can  expect  any 
thing  of  value  from  our  legislatures.  From  the 
peculiar  nature  of  our  institutions,  this  will  not  be 
accomplished  by  our  legislative  bodies  themselves, 
for  they  always  follow  public  sentiment ;  and  I 
shall  endeavour  to  show  in  the  sequel,  that  it  de- 
volves as  a  solemn  duty,  and  an  enviable  privilege, 
in  a  pre-eminent  degree,  upon  the  clergy. 

The  essential  features  in  a  system  of  national 
education  suited  to  the  United  States,  I  consider 
to  be  seven ;  as  expressed  in  the  following  pro- 
positions ; 

1.  A  system  of  national  education  suited  to  the 
United  States,  must  aim,  above  all  things,  to  im- 
press a  virtuous  character  upon  the  rising  gene- 
ration, and  by  means  of  the  Bible  as  the  instrument. 

2.  In  educating  the  intellectual  faculties,  it 
should  be  guided,  (with  reference  both  to  methods 
of  practice,  and  the  information  to  be  communi- 
cated,) by  the  laws  of  mind,  and  the  future  wants 
of  the  individual ;  and  not,  as  is  generally  the  case, 
by  a  too  subservient  and  blind  regard  to  usage. 

2.  It  must  make  such  arrangements  as  will 
ensure  the  attendance  at  school,  of  every  child  of 
the  proper  age. 

4.  It  must  cause  them  to  continue  at  school 
for  a  period  of  seven  years. 

5.  It  must  establish  seminaries  for  the  profes- 
sional education  of  a  sufficient  number  of  teachers, 


92  ESSENTIAL    FEATURES    OF    A    SYSTEM 

6.  It  must  provide  means  for  their  accommo- 
dation and  comfortable  support ;  and, 

7.  For  the  supervision  and  general  execution  of  its 
plans,  it  must  appoint  wise  and  energetic  superin- 
tendents. 

These  I  regard  as  the  indispensable  elements 
of  a  system  of  public  education  adapted  to  our 
wants.  But  strange  to  tell,  there  is  but  one  coun- 
try in  the  world,  in  which  they  have  existence, 
and  that  is  under  the  government  of  an  arbitrary 
monarch.  They  are  just  as  necessary,  however, 
in  the  United  States  as  they  are  in  Prussia  ;  and 
even  more  so.  But  where,  I  ask  with  mortifica- 
tion,— with  wounded  pride  as  a  republican;  where 
is  the  state  in  our  confederacy,  that  would  sustain 
its  legislature  in  the  execution  of  such  a  system  ? 
And  yet,  I  repeat  it,  this  is  just  such  a  system  as 
is  demanded  by  our  political  circumstances.  Its 
beautiful  symmetry  would  be  marred  by  the  omis- 
sion of  a  single  hnk.  Its  efficiency  would  be 
crippled,  if  not  destroyed,  by  dispensing  with  any 
of  its  requisites. 

Of  the  first  of  the  features  which  I  suppose  to 
be  essential  to  a  public  school  system,  viz  :  that 
which  asserts  the  necessity  of  providing  for  the 
religious  education  of  the  young,  I  have  already 
spoken ;  having  devoted  to  it  a  separate  chapter 
because  of  its  pre-eminent  importance. 

The  question  which  relates  to  the  best  method 
of  employing  the  Bible  in  schools  has  not  been 


OP  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  93 

dwelt  upon,  because  I  do  not  profess  to  under- 
stand it  in  regard  to  its  practical  details.  I  must 
confess,  I  have  rather  a  prejudice  against  the  em- 
ployment of  it  as  a  mere  reading  book.  There 
are  so  few  children  who,  in  learning  to  read,  at- 
tend to  the  meaning,  that  there  would  seem  to  be 
danger  lest  the  Bible,  from  the  purely  mechanical 
use  made  of  it  in  such  cases,  should  get  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  common  book.  I  am  inclined  to 
think,  children  should  be  encouraged  to  use  it 
precisely  for  the  same  ends  for  which  they  will 
have  occasion  to  use  it  when  they  become  men, 
viz  :  "  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for 
instruction  in  righteousness,"  and  for  no  other 
purpose. 

This  view  does  not  forbid  the  study  of  its  style, 
its  geography,  its  antiquities,  &c.,  by  the  child, 
any  more  than  by  the  theological  student,  or  by 
the  members  of  a  Bible  class.  It  decidedly  en- 
courages such  research,  for  the  sake  of  getting 
clear  conceptions  of  its  meaning.  But,  unques- 
tionably, the  great  object  for  which  children,  no 
less  than  grown  persons,  should  study  the  Bible 
is,  that  they  may  become  good,  in  order  that  they 
may  be  happy  and  useful  men  and  women. 

A  work  which  shall  amount  to  an  exact,  judi- 
cious, and  specific  answer  to  the  question  which 
relates  to  the  best  method  of  employing  the  Bible 
in  schools,  and  shall  be  fitted  to  serve  as  a  help 
and  guide  to  teachers  in  this  respect,  may  be  re- 


94  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

garded  as  one  of  the  greatest  desiderata  in  prac- 
tical education.  The  existence  of  such  a  work 
would  do  more  than  almost  any  thing  else,  to  ex- 
pedite the  general  introduction  of  the  Bible  into 
schools,  to  make  it  efficient  in  the  great  business 
of  religious  instruction,  and  to  remove  all  doubt 
about  the  practicability  of  using  it  habitually  with- 
out offending  sectarian  feelings. 

It  might  reasonably  be  expected,  that  in  treat- 
ing of  national  education,  the  culture  of  the  physi- 
cal powers  should  not  be  overlooked.  Nor  is  it 
by  any  means  because  I  deem  the  subject  unim- 
portant, that  it  is  not  touched.  So  far  from  this, 
I  regard  it  as  a  subject  by  itself;  so  extensive, 
that  he  alone  is  qualified  to  treat  of  it,  who,  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  science  of  mind,  adds  a  very 
thorough  acquaintance  with  that  of  physic.  It 
begins  with  the  all-important  topic  of  marriage  ; 
(to  the  views  of  Professor  Caldwell  upon  which,  I 
would  particularly  solicit  the  attention  of  Chris- 
tians and  philanthropists,)  and  embraces  those 
of  nursing,  diet,  clothing,  exercise,  study,  recrea- 
tion, medical  treatment,  and  many  others  of  sim- 
ilar importance,  about  which  the  author  is  not 
qualified  to  write. 

Another  reason  why  this  branch  of  the  subject 
of  education  is  not  noticed  is,  that  some  of  the 
most  important  practical  questions  in  relation  to 
it,  that  of  the  introduction  of  manual  labour  for 
example,  seem  as  yet  to  be  matters  of  experi- 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  95 

ment ;  and,  also,  because  of  an  impression,  that 
this  is  a  department  in  which  the  hired  teacher 
can  do  comparatively  little ;  that  with  reference 
to  the  article  of  exercise,  the  most  we  need  do 
for  children,  is  to  afford  them  opportunity  and 
leisure  to  gratify  their  instinctive  love  of  action  ; 
and  that  the  whole  subject,  so  far  as  it  is  desira- 
ble to  make  it  an  object  of  systematic  attention, 
comes  more  appropriately  within  the  province  of 
the  father  and  mother  in  the  domestic  circle,  aid- 
ed and  guided  by  the  family  physician. 

With  these  introductory  remarks,  I  proceed  to 
the  immediate  subjects  of  this  section. 

The  second  proposition  relating  to  what  are 
considered  the  essential  elements  of  a  system  of 
national  education  suited  to  the  United  States,  is, 
that  "  In  educating  the  intellectual  faculties,  it 
should  be  guided,  {with  reference  both  to  methods 
of  practice,  and  the  information  to  be  communica- 
ted,) by  the  laws  of  fnind,  and  the  future  wants  of 
the  individual ;  and  not,  as  is  generally  the  case, 
by  a  too  subservient  and  blind  regard  to  usage." 

It  always  appeared  to  the  author  to  be  one  of 
the  most  unfortunate  mistakes  in  American  edu- 
cation, that  its  legislative  friends  have  directed 
their  efforts  exclusively  to  the  multiplication  of 
means,  being  totally  regardless  of  the  mode  of 
using  them.  The  diffusion,  and  not  the  improve- 
ment of  education,  seems  to  have  been  their  only 
object.     Their  aim  has  been  to  increase  as  much 


06  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

as  possible  the  number  of  schools,  with  little  or 
no  practical  regard  to  their  character.  Hence, 
the  first,  and  by  far  the  most  important,  in  the 
whole  series  of  measures  requisite  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  public  school  system,  has  been  ha- 
bitually overlooked ;  I  mean  the  education  of 
teachers. 

The  business  of  education  in  the  United  States 
has  been,  and  still  is,  conducted  for  the  most  part 
by  apprentices  ;  that  is,  by  men  who  begin  to 
learn  the  art  they  undertake  to  practise,  only 
when  they  begin  to  teach  ;  and  who,  from  one 
cause  or  another,  never  do  acquire  a  knowledge 
of  it.  I  am  aware  that  to  this  there  are  many 
very  honourable  exceptions.  But  I  am  equally 
aware,  that  the  valuable  teachers  in  our  country 
have  made  themselves  such,  by  their  own  exer- 
tions. For  their  professional  respectability,  they 
are  not,  in  the  least,  indebted  to  legislative  aid. 

It  follows  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  this 
neglect,  that  the  art  of  education  is  in  its  infancy. 
Indeed,  I  know  not  that  I  should  express  myself 
much  too  strongly  were  I  to  say,  that  it  has  yet 
to  be  created,  or  discovered.  We  do  know  some- 
thing, it  is  true,  of  the  science  of  mind,  and  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  education  deducible 
from  these  ;  but  of  the  details  of  their  application, 
we  know  comparatively  nothing. 

The  process  of  education,  as  at  present  mana- 
ged, is  little  better  than  a  n>ere  matter  of  routine ; 


iOS-  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  tt7 

a  blind,  implicit,  and  irrational  following  of  cus- 
tom. We  teach  our  children  as  we  were  taught 
before  them  ;  and  for  no  better  reason,  than  that 
such  was  the  practice  of  our  predecessors.  The 
proceedings  of  the  school-room  are  conducted, 
pretty  much,  by  the  same  criteria  as  those  of  the 
kitchen  ;  that  is,  by  the  help  of  recipes.  The  aid 
of  science  is,  in  both  cases,  equally  repudiated ; 
and  hence  it  follows,  that  we  are  in  the  habit  of 
making  scholars  as  a  cook  makes  pies  —  "  accord- 
ing to  the  directions^  It  rarely  happens  that  we 
find  a  teacher  who,  in  fixing  upon  his  methods  of 
instruction,  takes  counsel  of  the  science  of  mental 
philosophy. 

In  most  other  departments  of  human  labour, 
theory  and  practice,  art  and  science,  have  been 
brought  into  co-operation.  But  in  that  of  educa- 
tion, (of  all,  the  most  difficult,  the  most  impor- 
tant,) they  have  been  uniformly  kept  asunder. 
Every  art  has  its  science  ;  and  the  prosperity  of 
the  former,  depends  upon  a  judicious  application 
of  the  well  ascertained  principles  of  the  latter. 
Till  recently,  but  little  has  been  done  in  this  way, 
and  but  little  attempted,  for  the  benefit  of  educa- 
tion. Hence  it  is,  that  we  know  so  little  about 
the  business  ;  and  that  the  art  of  education  is  pret- 
ty much  in  the  condition  now,  that  the  art  of  physic 
was,  when  practice  was  monopolized  by  barbers. 
It  consists  of  a  settled  course  of  practice,  for  which 
no  better  reason  can  be  given  than  that  it  is  usual. 


98  ESSENTIAL  FEATTRES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

With  reference  to  "the  information  communi- 
cated "  in  our  public  schools,  there  is  as  great  a 
want  of  proportion  to  the  end  to  be  subserved,  as 
there  is,  of  philosophical  fitness,  in  the  methods  of 
instruction. 

The  responsible,  and  dignified  position  in  which 
every  man  is  placed  by  becoming  a  citizen  of  a 
republic  where  the  right  of  suffrage  is  unrestrict- 
ed, demands  for  him  a  species  of  intellectual 
developement,  and  an  amount  and  variety  of 
knowledge  altogether  superior  to  what  is  general- 
ly afforded.  When  I  speak  of  national  education, 
I  of  course  mean  American  education ;  or  such 
as  is  adapted  to  American  institutions,  wants,  and 
character.  This  supplies  a  criterion,  by  which 
our  legislators  should  determine  the  description  of 
mental  training  and  instruction  to  be  given  in  all 
our  school-houses  without  exception  ;  even  in  the 
mud-daubed  shantees  of  the  remotest  or  poorest 
portions  of  the  Union.  In  other  words,  wherever 
American  citizens  are  to  be  formed,  there,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  American  education  should  be 
given. 

But  what  kind  of  education  does  this  criterion 
require,  it  is  asked  ? 

That  the  children  of  the  nation  should  be  taught 
to  read,  and  write,  and  cipher,  answers  almost 
universal  custom  !  They  should  learn  to  read, 
that  they  may  be  able  to  peruse  advertisements, 
and  be  certified  of  the  true  contents  of  bonds. 


I      A 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  99 

They  should  be  taught  to  write,  that  they  may 
be  able  to  draft  and  sign  receipts.  And  they 
ought  to  learn  to  cipher,  that  they  may  know 
the  market  value  of  their  hay  and  corn,  and  keep 
from  being  cheated. 

I  mean  by  this  simply  to  assert,  (as  I  do  with  equal 
sincerity  and  mortification,)  that  the  prevailing 
education  in  the  United  States  is  much  more  suit- 
able for  a  mere  dollar  and  cent  people,  whose 
"  chief  end  "  is  "  to  gather  pelf,"  than  for  a  high- 
souled  republican  nation,  that  boasts  of  having  re- 
stored man  to  the  footing  of  his  natural  rights  ; 
and  of  having  established  an  order  of  things,  un- 
der which,  every  citizen  may  stand  forth  in  all 
the  dignity  of  a  human  being  "  redeemed,  regen- 
erated, and  disenthralled,  by  the  genius  of  univer- 
sal emancipation." 

To  collect  materials  for  giving  a  "proper  answer 
to  the  question  proposed,  (so  far,  at  least,  as  re- 
lates to  intellectual  education,  the  immediate  sub- 
ject of  this  chapter,)  I  would  station  myself  beside 
"the  stump"  and  the  ballot-box,  on  the  day  of  an 
election,  and  there  learn  the  mental  habits,  and 
the  information,  requisite,  to  enable  the  farmers 
and  mechanics,  the  principal  voters  of  the  nation, 
to  distinguish  the  artful  sophistry  of  the  dema- 
gogue, from  the  manly  logic  of  the  friend  of  order 
and  of  the  Constitution ;  and  to  choose,  intelli- 
gently, between  two  candidates  whose  views  of 
national  policy  may  be  as  opposite  as  day  and 


100  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A   SYSTEItC 

night.  I  would  then  repair  to  our  legislative 
halls ;  and  hearing  the  yeomanry  of  the  country 
uttering  their  wishes,  and  opinions,  through  their 
representative  organs,  I  would  inquire  as  to  the 
kind  of  education  that  will  fit  them  for  doing  so  v^ith 
wisdom  and  with  safety.  Thence  I  would  go  in- 
to the  business  walks  of  life,  to  ascertain  what 
knowledge  of  things,  and  principles,  is  needed  to 
facilitate  the  task  of  getting  honestly  a  comforta- 
ble livelihood.  In  the  social  circle,  next,  I  would 
learn  the  mental  qualifications  necessary  to  make 
recreation  rational,  and  profitable,  as  well  as 
pleasant.  Then,  by  the  domestic  fireside,  I  would 
determine  the  amount  of  moral  science  requisite 
for  a  wise  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  father, 
the  son,  the  brother,  the  relation,  the  neighbour, 
and  the  friend.  And  lastly  ;  beneath  the  shadow 
of  the  sacred  desk,  I  would  form  my  views  of 
the  attainments  which  are  essential  to  fit  a  man 
for  being  happy  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  all 
his  duties  upon  earth,  and  to  prepare  him  for  the 
purer  blessedness  of  Heaven. 

Do  I  hear  the  cry  of  "  impracticable,**  "  vision- 
ary," and  "  Utopian,"  sent  forth  on  the  perusal  of 
these  sentiments  ?  I  deny  that  the  charge  justly 
appertains  to  the  sentiments  themselves.  These 
form  an  unavoidable  inference  from  our  political 
theory.  If  there  be  utopianism  any  where,  it  is 
to  be  found  in  our  general  and  state  constitutions.. 
The  framers  of  that  venerable   instrument,  th^ 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  101 

Declaration  of  Independence,  are  the  Platos,  and 
the  Mores,  against  whom  this  inconsiderate  cry 
is  uttered.  They  have  placed  things  on  a  footing 
which  makes  it  indispensable  that  every  one  shall 
act  intelligently,  as  well  as  virtuously,  the  part  of 
a  man,  and  of  an  American  citizen  ;  and  if  it  be 
"  impracticable  "  to  prepare  our  children  for  so 
doing,  w«  had  better  return  as  soon  as  possible 
to  our  allegiance  to  the  mother  country.  A  far 
worse  fate  may  happen  tous,if  we  persist  in  cherish- 
ing our  grovelling  and  skeptical  views  respecting 
the  education  which  should,  and  may  be  given,  to 
all  the  voters  and  virtual  legislators  of  our  beloved 
country. 

Our  political  circumstances  imperatively  de- 
mand a  certain  kind  and  amount  of  education  for 
the  people.  Can  we  give  it  ?  I  believe  we  can. 
But,  then,  in  order  to  do  so,  we  must  provide  a 
national  system,  which, "  in  educating  the  intellec- 
tual faculties,"  shall  have  a  just  regard  to  the 
philosophy  of  mind ;  shall  prescribe  more  philo- 
sophical methods  of  instruction  than  prevail  at 
present ;  and  shall  introduce  into  all  our  public 
schools,  a  course  of  studies  suited  in  variety  and 
extent  to  the  wants  and  dignity  of  self-governing 
freemen.  Before,  however,  we  can  indulge  a 
hope  of  the  existence  of  such  a  system,  public 
opinion,  (as  is  stated  in  the  beginning  of  this  chap- 
ter,) must  undergo  a  thorough  revolution.  The 
people  of  the  United  States  are  not  prepared  for 
9* 


102  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A   SYSTEM 

a  scheme  of  education  that  would  do  justice,  ei- 
ther to  the  moral  or  intellectual  faculties  of  their 
children.  On  this  account,  I  grant  that  the  im- 
mediate introduction  of  such  a  system  would  be 
impracticable.  But  this  is  far  from  admitting 
that  when  duty,  interest,  and  parental  love  call  for  it 
so  loudly,  public  opinion  cannot  be  changed  ;  and, 
that  a  rational,  and  competent  plan  of  national 
education  cannot  ultimately  be  established.* 

*  Having  bestowed  upon  this  branch  of  the  subject  of  educa- 
tion as  much  attention  as  on  any  other ;  I  had  prepared  for  this 
section,  an  extended  statement  of  the  principles  on  which  the 
culture  of  the  intellectual  powers  should  be  conducted  ;  with  a 
minute  description  of  the  course  of  studies  which,  (in  accordance 
with  the  criteria  laid  down,)  ought  to  be  pursued  in  all  our  na- 
tional schools.  But  finding,  (unexpectedly,  and  not  until  the 
publication  had  advanced  thus  far,)  that  its  insertion  would  swell 
the  work  beyond  a  proper  size,  I  have  been  obliged  to  omit  it.  If 
at  any  time  hereafter  it  should  seem  desirable,  I  may  possibly 
enlarge  it,  and  put  it  forth  in  a  volume  by  itself. 


OP  NATIONAL   EDUCATION.  103 


SECTION    II. 

Parental  love  and  duty  do  not  cause  parents  to  educate  their 
children.  —  The  state  has  a  right  to  constrain  them  by  its  au- 
thority.—  In  Prussia,  compulsion  employed.  —  No  moral  or 
constitutional  principle  against  it  in  this  country  —  not  proper 
here,  simply  because  unnecessary  and  inexpedient.  —  Only  way 
to  ensure  general  attendance  at  the  public  schools,  is  by  throw- 
ing a  considerable  share  of  the  cost  of  education  upon  property, 
so  that  by  the  aid  of  a  moderate  tuition  fee,  the  pay  of  teachers, 
and  consequently  the  schools  may  be  good,  and  yet  the  poor  be 
able  to  send  their  children. — The  people  of  the  United  States 
not  prepared  for  the  application  of  this  doctrine.  — Popular  in- 
difference the  great  obstacle  to  the  improvement  and  spread  of 
education.  —  Legislative  action  essential,  yet  must  be  preceded 
by  great  advance  in  public  opinion  ;  this  to  be  effected  by 
private  efforts. 

Having  spoken  rn  a  general  way  of  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  education  which  "  the  circum- 
stances of  society  in  the  United  States  require 
all  its  members  should  receive  ;"  which  "  every 
child  is  entitled  to  claim,  and  government  is  bound 
to  give  ;"  I  proceed  to  the  second  great  department 
of  the  subject  of  national  education,  which,  (as  is 
stated  in  one  of  the  leading  questions  in  the  intro- 
duction,) relates  to  the  "  arrangements  that  had 
best  be  made  for  the  pprpose  of  complying  with  this 
requirement,  of  meeting  these  claims,  and  of  dis- 
charging this  obligation."  This  covers  the  entire 
ground  of  the  four  remaining  propositions  that 
relate  to  the  essential  features  of  a  system  of  na- 
tional education,  suited  to  the  United  States. 


104  ESSENTIAi   FEATURES   OF  A   SYSTEM 

The  third  of  these  propositions,  (which  forms 
the  subject  of  this  section,)  maintains,  that  our 
national  system  should  include  "  such  arrange- 
ments as  will  ensure  the  attendance  at  school  of 
every  child  of  the  proper  age." 

By  reasoning  a  priori,  we  should  certainly  arrive 
at  the  conclusion,  that  the  education  of  the  young 
is  one  of  those  interests  which  may  be  safely  left 
to  take  care  of  itself.  Parental  love  would  seem 
to  make  all  foreign  instigation  on  this  subject 
needless.  From  an  abstract  consideration  of  its 
nature,  one  would  suppose  that  it  would  be  just 
as  necessary  to  pass  laws  requiring  fathers  and 
mothers  to  preserve  the  tender  bodies  of  their 
children  from  freezing,  or  from  starving,  as  to 
provide  for  the  instruction  and  cultivation  of  their 
minds,  by  the  enactment  of  legislative  statutes. 
But  the  testimony  of  experience  upon  this  point 
is  altogether  different.  It  is  a  lamentable  fact, 
that  the  education  of  children  is  just  one  of  those 
things  about  which  parents  are  particularly  care- 
less ;  and  as  this  is  a  matter  of  supreme  impor- 
tance to  the  state,  an  interest  too  precious  to  be 
liable  to  be  neglected,  she  finds  herself  obliged 
to  devise  expedients  for  effecting  by  constraint, 
what  fathers  and  mothers  ought  spontaneously  to 
have  attended  to,  at  the  bidding  of  the  sacred 
instinct  of  parental  love.  Hence,  one  of  the  most 
important  questions  in  the  whole  range  of  legisla- 


te 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  105 

tion  on  this  subject  is,  how  shall  all  parents  be 
brought  to  send  their  children  to  school  ? 

To  effect  this,  various  expedients  have  been 
employed  in  different  countries :  some  have  re- 
sorted directly  to  coercion.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem,  it  is  nevert'heless  true,  that  every  subject 
of  the  King  of  Prussia,  is  not  only  obliged  to  con- 
tribute his  proportion  towards  providing  the  means 
of  education,  but  is  actually  compelled,  if  necessary, 
by  the  civil  authority,  to  suffer  his  children  to  enjoy 
their  advantages,  for  the  period  of  seven  years  1  ! 
"  No  excuse,  whatever,  is  admitted  short  of  phy- 
sical inability,  or  absolute  idiocy.  If  the  commit- 
tee find  that  any  child  is  negligent  in  his  attend- 
ance, or  any  does  not  attend  at  all,  the  parent  or 
guardian  of  such  child  is  immediately  visited  ; 
causes  of  delinquency  are  inquired  into,  and  if  the 
reasons  are  not  satisfactory,  he  is  admonished  to 
do  his  duty,  and  if  this  admonition  fails,  he  is  again 
visited  and  admonished  by  the  clergyman  of  the 
parish- — and  if  he  still  continue  negligent,  he  is 
punished  by  fines  or  by  civil  disabilities ;  and  as  a 
last  resort  where  all  other  means  have  failed,  his 
children  are  taken  from  under  his  care  and  edu- 
cated by  the  local  authorities."* 

Such  is  the  strange  exercise  of  power  by  a 
member  of  the  holy  alliance  \  And  what  republican, 
what  philanthropist,  can  withhold  from  it  his  plau* 

*  Stowe  pn  Prussian  eduqatioAt 


100  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES   OF  A  SYSTEM 

dits?  Would  that  all  despots  were  tyrannical 
after  this  manner.  Welcome  absolute  power, 
if  it  expend  itself  only  in  forcing  blessings  on  the 
people.  And  surely,  a  republican  government 
ought  not  to  permit  its  citizens  to  envy  the  subjects 
of  an  arbitrary  monarch.  Assuredly,  enlightened 
selfishness  in  a  self-governing  community,  ought 
to  achieve  as  much  as  benevolence  in  a  despotism. 
Our  kindness  to  our  children,  should  not  be  sur-. 
passed  by  that  of  a  military  despot  toward  his 
serfs,  a  master  to  his  servants. 

When  speaking  of  the  Prussian  system  in  this 
and  other  places,  I  by  no  means  design  to  propose  it 
as  a  model  suited  in  all  respects  for  our  imitation. 
We  want,  in  the  United  States,  a  system  of  edu- 
cation of  our  own,  adapted  to  our  pecuhar  cir- 
cumstances ;  in  short,  we  want  American  educa- 
tion. Still,  as  the  fundamental  features  of  a  perfect 
system  must  be  pretty  much  the  same  every 
where,  and  as  the  Prussian  scheme  is  incomparably 
superior  to  any  other  in  existence,  I  shall  frequently 
refer  to  it  for  illustration. 

With  reference  to  directly  coercive  measures, 
it  were  almost  useless  to  say  it  would  not  do  to 
employ  them  in  this  country.  Not,  however,  be- 
cause it  would  be  opposed  to  any  moral  or  con- 
stitutional principle  ;  but  simply  because  it  would 
be  inexpedient  and  unnecessary.  We  have,  in 
reality,  though  indirectly,  resorted  to  coercive 
measures  wherever  a  public  school  system  of  any 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  107 

value  has  been  established  among  us.  It  has  never 
been  found  practicable  to  establish  one  without 
them.  Do  we  not  employ  coercion  when  we  tax 
a  man  against  his  will  for  the  erection  of  a  school- 
house  and  the  support  of  a  teacher,  and  then 
compel  the  payment  of  the  amount  by  issuing  an 
execution  against  his  property  ?  Is  indirect  taxa- 
tion, (because  the  authority  is  disguised,)  less  the 
offspring  of  authority  than  that  which  is  direct  ? 

About  the  abstract  right  of  government  to  com- 
pel the  education  of  the  children  of  the  country, 
there  cannot  be  a  doubt.  Is  it  not  a  much  more 
noble  way  of  obliging  people  to  be  orderly,  than 
that  of  inflicting  fines,  and  erecting  jails  and  pen- 
itentiaries ?  Is  it  more  offensive  to  employ  coer- 
cion for  the  prevention,  than  for  the  cure  of  moral 
evils  ?  There  is  at  least  one  state  in  the  Union, 
whose  statute-book  adopts  the  Prussian  plan  of 
imposing  fines  on  parents  who  fail  to  send  their 
children  to  school ;  and  there  is  no  other  reason, 
than  that  it  is  inexpedient,  to  forbid  a  resort  to 
it  by  all.  Is  not  the  government  as  really  a 
parent  in  America  as  in  Europe  ?  And  do  the 
nature  and  strength  of  parental  obligation  depend 
on  geography  ?  Is  it  not  an  unalienable  part 
of  this  obligation,  to  educate  children  even  against 
their  will  if  necessary  ?  Have  not  governments 
too,  everywhere,  the  right  to  provide  for  their 
own  existence,  safety,  and  healthy  operation  ?  and 
as  it  is  admitted,  that  universal  education  is  essen- 


108  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

tial  to  these,  pre-eminently  so,  in  a  republic,  is  it 
not  peculiarly  its  duty,  and  consequently  its  right, 
to  coerce,  if  need  he,  popular  attention  to  it  ? 

I  fearlessly  assume  the  position,  that  no  man 
has  a  right  in  this  country,  (less  by  far  here  than 
any  where  else,)  to  leave  his  children  uneducated. 
To  train  up  his  offspring  in  the  paths  of  knowledge 
and  virtue,  is  a  debt  he  owes  the  state  —  a  debt 
too,  whose  payment  should  be  constrained  by  au- 
authority,  if  not  made  willingly.  Every  man 
demands  for  his  children  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  citizens.  Let  society,  then,  as  it  values  its  own 
existence,  obeying  the  principle  of  self  preserva- 
tion, call  upon  him  to  remember,  that  right  and 
duty  are  reciprocal  and  commensurate  ;  that  the 
enjoyment  of  the  one  should  be  contingent  upon 
the  discharge  of  the  obligations  of  the  other  ;  and 
that  voluntary  ignorance  amounts,  in  equity,  to 
self-disfranchisement.  Let  the  voice  of  that  public 
sentiment,  (which  among  us  is  omnipotent,J^  pro- 
claim with  authority,  as  stern  and  unflinching  as 
ever  accompanied  the  mandate  of  a  military  des- 
pot, that  every  man  who  expects  for  his  offspring 
the  immunities  of  citizenship,  should  qualify  them 
by  appropriate  education  for  its  duties.  They 
have  no  right  to  participation  on  any  other  terms. 
A  self-governing  community  is  a  voluntary  asso- 
ciation. As  such,  it  has  its  terms  of  union,  its 
articles  of  agreement ;  and  every  man  who  seeks 
admission  within  its  pale,  does  so  on  the  implied 
condition  of  conformity  to  their  requirements. 


OF   NATIONAL    EDUCATION.  109 

Here,  however,  to  guard  against  the  possibiUty 
of  misconception,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  state,  that 
the  only  exercise  of  authority  for  the  benefit  of 
education  which  I  consider  necessary,  and  there- 
fore proper,  in  the  United  States,  is  the  imposition 
of  a  sufficient  tax  on  property.  By  a  sufficient 
tax,  I  mean  a  tax  whose  proceeds,  added  to  the 
income  from  a  moderate  tuition  fee,  will  make 
the  public  schools  so  good,  by  the  employment  of 
able  teachers,  that  the  rich  shall  not  have  occasion 
to  establish  private  seminaries  ;  at  the  same  time 
that  the  requisite  additional  cost  of  instruction, 
may  be  so  small,  that  the  poorest  can  send  their 
children  to  school.     This  much  is  essential. 

Our  legislation  on  this  point  is  far  from  being 
as  bold  and  energetic  as  it  should  be,  and  hencQ 
the  necessily  of  making  a  stronger  statement  of 
principles  than  otherwise  might  be  required. 

It  does  not  throw  the  burden  of  supporting 
general  education  as  much  as  it  should,  upon  the 
rich ;  or  rather,  it  does  not  make  property  pay  as 
large  a  proportion  of  the  cost  of  public  instruction 
as  it  ought  to  pay.  If  our  governments  possess 
the  right  of  taxing  property  at  all,  they  certainly 
have  the  right  to  make  the  tax  sufficient  to  answer 
the  end  proposed.  Once  concede  the  principle, 
and  the  question  of  degree  is  settled  of  course. 
The  rule  by  which  it  should  be  determined,  I  have 
already  stated. 

The  object  of  taxation  is  two  fold :  it  is  designed 
10 


110  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

to  act  as  a  constraint  upon  the  rich,  and  as  an 
inducement  to  the  poor,  to  educate  their  children 
in  the  pubhc  schools.  A  national  system  propo- 
ses to  assemble  the  children  of  all,  without  dis- 
crimination, in  the  same  schools,  where  they  shall 
receive  an  education  adapted  to  the  genius  and 
wants  of  our  government.  Now,  if  the  tax  on 
property  be  small,  this  object  is  inevitably  defeated ; 
for  either  the  tuition  fee  will  be  very  low,  to  ac- 
commodate the  poor ;  and  then  the  teacher's  salary 
being  trifling,  and  consequently  the  teacher  and 
the  school  indifferent,  the  rich  will  establish  supe- 
rior private  schools  of  their  own ;  or  if,  for  the 
sake  of  employing  good  teachers  with  a  view  to 
have  good  schools,  the  insufficiency  of  the  income 
from  taxation  be  made  up  by  high  fees  for  instruc- 
tion, the  poor  are  then  debarred  the  privilege  of 
educating  their  children.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
the  tax  on  property  be  high  ;  the  rich  having  paid 
so  much  towards  their  support,  will  of  course  send 
their  children  to  the  public  schools  ;  and  the  poor 
having  the  prospect  of  good  and  cheap  education 
placed  before  them,  (since,  in  this  case,  although 
the  tuition  fee  be  moderate,  the  salary  of  the 
teacher  may  yet  be  large,)  will  have  the  strongest 
inducement  to  send  theirs.  This  being  the  case, 
our  legislatures  ought  to  impose  a  considerable, 
that  is,  a  sufficient  tax  on  property,  without  regard 
to  the  will  of  individual  holders,  and  to  employ 
executive  authority  for  its  collection.     This  is  the 


OF    NATIONAL   EDUCATION.  Ill 

only  way  to  "  ensure  the  attendance  at  good  pub- 
lic schools,  of  every  child  of  the  proper  age." 

There  is  nothing  of  extravagance  in  these  posi- 
tions. The  chain  of  reasoning  by  which  they  are 
supported,  consists  of  self-evident  propositions  ; 
and  yet,  where  is  the  legislature  in  the  Union  that 
dares  advance  and  take  the  ground  they  bid  it 
occupy  ?  But  although  its  immediate  application 
is  impracticable,  still  a  great  point  is  gained,  by 
establishing  the  principle  that  the  law  ought  to 
enforce  the  moral  obligation  of  parents,  and  I 
may  add,  of  society,  to  educate  their  children ; 
for  this  being  granted,  the  friends  of  education 
have  only  to  secure  the  approbation  of  a  majority 
of  voters  in  any  state,  and  the  minority  will  be 
obliged,  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  our 
institutions,  to  conform  to  any  financial  arrange- 
ment they  may  choose  to  make  through  theii'  rep- 
resentative agents  in  the  legislature.  It  will  be 
seen  by  the  following  quotation  that  the  abstract 
principle, for  which  I  contend,  is  distinctly  asserted 
by  the  highest  authorities  upon  the  subject  of  ele- 
mentary law.  In  Chitty's  medical  Jurisprudence, 
(first  American  edition,  page  363,)  I  find  the  fol- 
lowing language  in  regard  to  it : 

"  From  these  premises  it  results,  that  as  happi- 
ness is  increased  in  proportion  to  the  extent  of 
knowledge,  and  as  the  intellectual  faculties  may 
be  strengthened  and  extended  by  mental  exercise 
and  attainments,  not  only  in  the  individual,  but 


112  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A   SYSTEM 

even  hereditarily,  therefore  enlarged  education 
should  be  encouraged,  if  not  enforced  by  legisla- 
tive enactments  ;  and  though  the  natural  affection 
of  parents  towards  their  children  ought  and  might 
in  general  to  induce  them  to  afford  adequate  in- 
struction ;  yet,  as  there  are  lamentable  instances 
to  the  contrary,  the  law  ought  to  enforce  the 
moral  obligation.  The  court  of  chancery  inter- 
feres only  where  the  infant  has  property  ;  in  which 
case  the  child  may  be  taken  even  from  the  custody 
of  his  father,  if  he  should  be  giving  him  an  im- 
moral or  improper  education,  and  out  of  the  fund 
in  court,  proper  education  will  be  enforced. 
But  in  the  present  state  of  our  law,  unless  the 
infant  be  the  ward  of  that  court,  there  can  be  no 
interference  with  parental  authority ;  and  neither 
the  common  nor  the  statute  law  enforces  more 
than  food  and  maintenance,  and  it  does  not  inter- 
fere with  mental  improvement.  Sir  Wm.  Black- 
stone  observed,  that  the  municipal  laws  of  most 
countries  seem  to  be  defective  in  this  point,  hy  not 
constraining  the  parent  to  bestow  proper  educa- 
tion upon  his  children  ;  perhaps  considering  that 
the  almost  necessarily  consequent  defects  in  his 
child  would  be  so  powerful  a  punishment  upon  the 
parent  as  of  itself  to  deter  him  from  the  moral 
delinquency  of  omitting  proper  education." 

The  best  school  system  in  this  country,  that  of 
New -York,  makes  its  boast  of  having  enticed  the 
people  into  partial  compliance  with  their  obliga- 


OF    NATIONAL    EDUCATION.  113 

tions ;  and  in  this  particular,  her  example  has,  from 
necessity,  been  very  properly  imitated  by  all  her 
sister  states  that  have  made  any  progress  toward 
establishing  a  system  of  public  education.  But  is 
it  not  humbling  to  reflect,  that  in  a  confederacy  of 
proud  and  boastful  republics,  the  people  have  to  be 
decoyed  into  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  even  the 
sacred  duty  of  educating  their  own  children,  and 
of  providing  for  the  perpetuity  of  their  own  insti- 
tutions, by  the  mortifying  stratagem  of  indirect  or 
conditional  taxation  ?  This  in  an  individual  parent 
— that  a  wealthy  father,  for  example,  should  have 
to  be  bribed  and  lured  into  the  education  of  his 
offspring,  would  subject  him  to  the  reproach  and 
contempt  of  all  around  him.  Upon  what  principle, 
then,  are  the  guilt  and  ignominy  lessened,  when 
appertaining  to  whole  communities  of  parents  ? 
It  is  a  national  reproach,  that  most  of  our  provis- 
ions for  the  spread  of  popular  education,  are  the 
products  of  disguised  taxation  ;  and  that  they  are 
so,  because  the  people  are  not  sufficiently  enlight- 
ened or  liberal,  to  consent  to  have  it  otherwise. 
Oh !  tell  it  not  in  France  —  proclaim  it  not  in 
Prussia  —  lest  the  son  of  the  infidel,  and  the  boor 
of  the  despot,  flout  at  our  political  pretensions  ! 

It  is  perfectly  useless  to  disguise  the  fact,  that 
the  primary  cause  of  all  the  defects  complained 
of  in  education,  and  the  source  of  all  the  evils  that 
afilict  our  country  in  consequence  of  its  imperfec- 
tion, is  popular  indifference.  The  people  do  not 
value  education  as  they  ought ;  and  hence,  their 
10* 


114  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OP  A   SYSTEM 

public  servants  do  not  take  more  pains  to  provide 
it  for  them.  No  community  in  our  country  ever 
yet  complained  of  a  persisting  want  of  subservi- 
ency in  its  government  to  the  popular  will.  The 
guilt,  if  guilt  there  be,  (and  I  see  not  how  it  can 
be  disproved,)  in  not  educating,  and  in  miseduca- 
ting  our  children,  lies  deeper  than  the  mere  form- 
alities of  legislation.  Legislation  is  comparatively 
not  to  blame.  It  has  done  much ;  has  done  per- 
haps all  it  could.  One  thing  is  clear,  it  has  gone 
quite  as  far  as  the  people  have  given  it  liberty  to 
go;  and  its  future  progress  will  be  *^  pari  passu  ^^ 
with  the  advance  in  the  sentiments  and  wishes  of 
our  citizens.  A  substance  is  not  more  necessary 
to,nor  definitive  of  a  shadow,  than  is  public  opinion 
in  this  country,  to  governmental  action.  Let  the 
people  call  for  education,  and  they  will  soon  have 
it.  Let  them  rank  it  among  the  necessaries  of  life, 
instead  of  making  it  prominent  on  the  list  of  dis- 
pensables  ;  let  them  be  taught  to  think  that  they 
cannot  possibly  do  without  it ;  and  they  will  spee- 
dily possess  it  both  in  quantity  and  quality,  up  to 
the  full  extent  of  their  desires.  Is  it  not,  therefore, 
evident  that  it  is  the  demand  which  needs  to  be 
stimulated  ?  Let  this  become  what  it  should  be, 
and  the  supply  may  almost  be  left  to  take  care  of 
itself. 

Here,  then,  is  noble  work  for  the  patriot,  the  phi- 
lanthropist, and  the  Christian.  Let  them  promptly 
and  zealously  avail  themselves  of  the  eventful 
juncture  that  invites  their  interference ;  let  them 


ItW'i     OP  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  115 

boldly  embark  in  the  glorious  enterprise  that  is 
before  them,  of  stimulating,  elevating,  and  reform- 
ing public  sentiment  in  relation  to  education,  and 
they  will  have  rendered  a  service  truly  worthy  of 
their  professions ;  they  will  have  been  the  means 
of  procuring  indirectly  to  their  country,  blessings 
which,  without  their  preparatory  efforts,  even  the 
strong  hand  of  government  has  it  not  in  its  power 
to  dispense. 

It  must  not  be  imagined,  however,  that  I  suppose 
legislative  action  can  be  dispensed  with.  Far  from 
it.  So  far  from  it,  I  am  forward  to  admit  the  truth  of 
the  assertion,  that  a  system  of  general  education 
has  never  yet  existed,  (and,  so  far  as  it  is  safe  to 
reason  of  the  future  from  the  past,)  never  can  exist, 
without  governmental  action.  My  only  regret  is, 
that  legislation  on  the  subject,  being  so  much  fet- 
tered, is  not  more  energetic  and  productive. 

That  it  is  not  so,  I  consider  more  its  misfortune 
than  its  fault.  It  would  soon  do  vastly  more  than 
it  has  been  permitted  to  do,  (for  the  way  is  per- 
fectly clear  in  which  it  could  do  more,)  if  the 
people  would  but  grant  permission.  The  want 
of  knowledge  as  to  the  best  mode  of  procedure, 
forms  no  part  of  the  hinderance.  The  experience 
of  Europe,  and  of  our  older  states,  is  so  ample  on 
this  subject,  both  for  the  purpose  of  warning  and 
direction,  that  the  path  of  duty  and  expediency  is 
as  plain  as  day ;  so  plain,  that  for  a  legislature  to 
wander  from  it  in  its  efforts  to  improve,  and  to 


116  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

increase  the  means  of,  education,  it  must  strive  to 
wander.  Greater  unanimity  of  opinion  than  exists 
among  all  writers  and  thinkers  on  the  subject,  in 
regard  to  the  principles  of  action,  and  the  best 
practical  expedients,  could  scarcely  be  desired. 
Whether  we  repair  for  advice  upon  the  subject 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  old  world  ;  to  England, 
Scotland,  Denmark,  Holland,  France,  to  Prussia 
or  to  Germany  in  general ;  or  whether  we  take 
counsel  of  the  intelligent  in  those  sister  states  that 
for  a  couple  of  centuries  have  been  familiar  with 
legislative  provisions  for  education,  we  receive 
but  one  harmonious  answer  from  the  whole.  All, 
all  concur  in  the  opinion  that  every  thing  may 
be  accomplished  which  legislation  can  accomplish, 
by  first  securing  the  professional  education  of  in- 
structers  in  sufficient  numbers  and  of  a  proper 
character;  and  then  providing  for  their  support, 
in  good  part,  by  a  tax  levied  upon  the  entire 
property  of  the  community. 

In  Continental  Europe,  these  essential  requi- 
sites are  ordered  by  government  without  consult- 
ing the  subject ;  but  in  Great  Britain,  and  in  this 
country,  the  approbation  of  the  people  must  be 
first  solicited.  Nothing  can  be  done  without  their 
consent.  This,  among  us,  they  are  not  as  yet 
prepared  to  grant  to  the  extent  required.  Con- 
sequently, legislation,  being  unsustained  by  public 
sentiment,  cannot  fail  to  remain  comparatively 
unfruitful,   till  such    a  change   shall    have   been 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  117 

wrought  in  the  views  and  feelings  of  the  people, 
as  may  induce  them  to  acquiesce  in  the  execu- 
tion of  the  above  essential  conditions ;  and  this 
change,  I  reiterate,  is  in  our  country,  the  prerog- 
ative and  hence  the  duty  of  the  private  citizen  to 
produce,  through  the  application  of  that  moral 
machinery,  by  which  we  see  such  mighty  revolu- 
tions wrought  in  the  public  mind  on  other  sub- 
jects. 

Instead,  therefore,  of  proposing  to  call  in  social 
effort  in  lieu  of  legislation,  I  wish  to  see  it  hearti- 
ly enlisted  for  the  removal  of  that  obstacle  which 
effectually  bars  the  exercise  of  legislative  power. 
In  short,  I  long  to  see  the  private  patriot,  the 
Christian,  and  the  philanthropist,  act  on  the  great  in- 
terests of  education,  not  as  substitutes,  but  as  pio- 
neers and  aids  to  government. 


SEC  T  I  ON   III. 

Fourth  essential  feature  of  a  system  of  national  education.  —  Its 
necessity  obvious,  but  its  execution  impracticable  on  account 
of  popular  indifference.  —  Political  necessity  of  a  far  superior 
kind  of  education  to  what  is  usually  received  by  our  citizens. 

The  fourth  feature  which  I  have  supposed  to  be 
essential  in  a  system  of  national  education  suited 
to  the  United  States  is,  that  "It  must  cause  thQ 


118  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OP  A   SYSTEM 

children  of  ihe  nation  to  continue  at  school  for  a 
period  of  seven  years." 

If  the  statement  which  has  been  made,  of  the 
kind  and  amount  of  education  needed  by  Ameri- 
can citizens  be  at  all  correct,  it  is  self-evident 
that  the  time  allotted  by  this  proposition  for  its 
acquirement  is  far  from  being  too  much.  And 
yet,  so  frightful  is  the  interval  between  the  theo- 
retical, though  stern  demands  of  our  political  or- 
ganization, and  the  description  of  education  prev- 
alent in  the  United  States  ;  so  utterly  unprepared 
are  the  majority  of  our  fellow-citizens  to  appre- 
ciate the  principles  by  which  alone  we  should  be 
guided  in  framing  a  scheme  of  national  education, 
and  to  apply  the  legitimate,  unavoidable  inferen- 
ces which  spring  from  them,  that  some  share  of 
moral  courage  is  required  to  enable  one  to  state 
with  boldness,  and  without  abatement,  what  is 
the  truth  upon  this  subject. 

Ought  not  every  child  to  receive  an  education, 
who,  by  the  structure  of  the  society  in  which  he 
lives,  is  placed  in  a  situation  that  requires  him,  in 
time,  to  act  the  part  of  an  independent  adult  ? 
Ought  not  the  education  of  all  to  be  adapted  to 
the  future  character  they  may  have  to  sustain, 
and  the  duties  they  shall  be  expected  and  required 
to  perform  ?  And  will  not  every  one,  who  has 
reflected  upon  the  tardy  and  deliberate  nature  of 
the  process  of  education,  aflfirm  that  these  objects 
cannot  be  accomplished  in  less  than  seven  years  ? 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  119 

These  are  questions,  that,  without  the  aid  of  dis- 
cussion, must  receive  an  affirmative  answer  the 
moment  they  are  propounded.  It  is  necessary 
only  to  propose  one  more,  which,  no  less  than 
those  just  stated,  carries  along  with  it  its  own  re- 
ply, and  the  position  taken  with  reference  to  the 
fourth  essential  feature  of  our  national  system,  is 
clearly  made  out.  That  question  is  —  if  our  go- 
vernments have  the  right  and  are  under  an  obli- 
gation to  employ  taxation,  or  any  other  coercive 
measures,  to  constrain  parents  to  send  their  chil- 
dren to  school ;  have  they  not,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  the  same  right,  and  are  they  not  under 
equal  obligation  to  continue  to  employ  it  until  the 
object  aimed  at  is  accomplished  ? 

But  of  what  use  is  it,  some  may  be  inclined  to 
ask,  to  speak  of  the  existence  of  rights  and  obli- 
gations, the  exercise  of  which,  we,  at  the  same 
time,  affirm  to  be  impracticable  ?  To  this  I  re- 
ply, that  there  is  a  great  deal  gained  by  the  set- 
tlement of  so  important  a  principle  ;  for  this  be- 
ing done,  the  friends  of  education  may  at  once  di- 
rect their  energies  to  remove  whatever  obstacle 
may  stand  in  the  way  of  its  application  ;  and  this, 
throughout  the  United  States,  is  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  popular  indifference.  This  however  is 
so  great,  so  stubborn,  and  so  blind,  that  I  could 
scarcely  fancy  a  more  difficult  task,  than  would 
be  incurred  by  undertaking  to  convince  the  mass 
of  the  people  in  our  country,  that  it  is  their  duty 


120  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

not  only  to  senii  their  children  to  school,  but  to 
keep  them  there  seven  years  !  If  I  am  not  mis- 
taken in  this  impression,  why  is  it,  that  in  many 
of  our  states,  not  one-half  the  children  of  a  school- 
ing age  can,  at  any  given  time  of  the  year,  be 
found  at  school  ?  And  why  is  it,  that  in  quite  as 
many,  the  amount  of  schooling  given  to  a  majori- 
ty of  children  does  not  exceed,  if  it  can  be  said 
to  equal,  two  or  three  entire  years  ? 

There  never  was  a  more  flagrant  violation  of 
the  laws  of  proportion,  a  more  pernicious  forget- 
fulness  of  the  relation  existing  between  cause  and 
effect,  than  that  which  is  manifest  when  we  re- 
flect upon  the  theory  of  our  social  institutions,  in 
comparison  with  the  means  relied  upon  for  ma- 
king them  at  once  practicable  and  perpetual. 
God,  in  his  providence,  has  allotted  twenty  years 
for  the  education  of  the  human  being  ;  and  an  ex- 
emplary European  Monarch  has  decreed,  that 
the  children  of  his  subjects  shall  have,  at  the  least, 
seven  years  instruction ;  but  we,  independent  re- 
publicans of  America,  reflect  upon  the  wisdom 
and  benevolence  of  both,  by  putting  our  children 
off"  with  the  stinted  allowance  of  but  two  years 
of  very  defective  education.  Truly,  it  would  seem 
as  though  we  considered  it  a  part  of  our  boasted 
liberties,  to  be  independent  of  the  aid  of  intellec- 
tual and  moral  culture;  that  however  necessary 
this  may  be  for  a  nation  of  servants  who  have  a 
wise  and  good  king,  who  kindly  relieves  them  of 


OP  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  121 

the  onerous  task  of  making  and  executing  whole- 
some laws,  yet,  such  is  the  charm  of  liberty,  such 
the  virtue  of  democracy,  that  It  is  not  at  all  re- 
quisite for  the  freeborn  sons  of  a  self-governing 
republic ! 

I  most  devoutly  pray  to  God,  that  his  warning 
voice  in  the  riots,  mobs,  and  lynchings,  which 
have  grown  so  common  in  our  land,  may  be  duly 
heeded  by  the  nation,  and  may  rid  us  of  that  fa- 
tal self-complacency,  which  causes  us  to  expect 
the  perpetuity  of  our  government  on  any  other 
grounds  than  the  general  prevalence  of  something 
more  than  a  merely  nominal  education.  We  ap- 
pear, as  a  people,  to  have  become  so  completely 
intoxicated  with  liberty,  as  to  have  forgotten  that 
"  it  is  a  state  of  duty  as  well  as  privilege."  In 
the  licentious  enjoyment  of  its  delights,  we  over- 
look its  obligations.  In  our  intemperate  commem- 
oration of  National  Independence,  we  are  total- 
ly forgetful,  that  to  perpetuate  its  blessings  will 
demand  of  us  quite  as  much  of  virtue  and  intelli- 
gence, as  its  achievement  cost  our  fathers,  of  their 
blood  and  treasure. 

The  amount  of  information  acquired,  and  the 
intellectual  and  moral  developement  attained  by 
the  generality  of  our  citizens  in  the  common 
schools,  are  far  below  the  demands  of  their  poli- 
tical relations.  The  theory  of  our  government 
calls  for  the  highest  kind  of  intelligence  among 
the  people.     In  a  certain  political  sense,  it  is  strict- 

U 


122  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

ly  true,  that  "  a  little  learning  is  a  dangerous 
thing."  There  are  but  two  states  of  society  in 
which  the  administration  of  government  is  easy, 
viz  :  where  there  is  a  great  deal  of  ignorance,  or  a 
great  deal  of  knowledge.  When  sufficiently  en- 
lightened, the  people  are  made  capable  of  self-go- 
vernment ;  and  when  sunk  in  ignorance,  they  ea- 
sily become  the  dupes  and  slaves  of  others.  In 
the  one  case,  they  are  but  brutes  who  submit, 
without  resistance,  to  be  guided  by  reins  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  despot ;  in  the  other,  they  un- 
dertake and  are  fitted  to  manage  for  themselves ; 
and  the  advantages  of  the  latter  over  the  former 
condition,  depends  entirely  upon  the  amount  of 
qualification  for  its  arduous  duties. 

The  most  critical  condition  in  which  society 
can  be  placed,  is  in  the  transition  state ;  where 
a  people  too  knowing  to  be  slaves,  have  conceiv- 
ed the  desire,  without  possessing  the  ability,  to 
manage  for  themselves.  This  seems  to  be  the  or- 
deal through  which  the  civilized  world  in  general 
is  at  present  passing.  Nor  can  we  deny  that 
there  are  thousands  among  us,  and  their  number 
is  every  day  increasing,  who  do  not  believe  that 
even  we  have  altogether  escaped  its  limits.  What 
shall  be  the  issue  in  any  case,  depends  entirely 
upon  the  energy  and  wisdom  with  which  the 
schoolmaster  shall  be  enabled  to  do  his  office. 
Our  government  is  an  impracticable  farce,  unless 
every  voter,  or  a  very  large  majority  of  voters, 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  123 

can  be  made  intelligent  enough  to  know  how  to 
participate  in  managing  it,  and  virtuous  enough  to 
be  disposed  to  make  a  right  use  of  their  power. 
The  theory  of  our  political  organization  makes 
every  man  a  legislator ;  its  practice  should  see 
that  he  is  fitted  for  the  task  assigned  him.  The 
administration  of  government  vv^ould  be  unsafe  in 
the  hands  of  a  child,  because  of  ignorance  ;  in  the 
hands  of  banditti,  from  want  of  principle.  Now 
both  these  disqualifications  meet  in  an  unenlight- 
ened nation  of  adults.  Who  would  feel  safe  on 
ship-board  with  an  idiot  at  the  helm  during  a 
storm  ?  Or  with  a  crew  of  pirates,  in  a  vessel 
laden  with  valuable  treasure  ?  The  great  vessel 
of  state  is  not  one  whit  more  independent  of  intelli- 
gence and  principle.  To  provide  them  therefore, 
and  of  a  high  order,  is  the  dictate  of  self-preser- 
vation. National  shipwreck  must  be  the  inevitq.- 
ble  consequence  of  neglecting  it.  ,,-> 

It  is  absurd  then  to  suppose,  as  some  do,  that 
the  liberal  education  (not  that  which  can  be  ac- 
quired in  two  years,)  of  all  the  people,  is  an  im- 
practicability. None  but  a  monarchist  of  the  deep- 
est stamp  can  with  consistency  maintain  this.  It 
should  be  left  as  the  exclusive  privilege  of  those  min- 
ions of  royalty,  who  "  regard  this  scheme"  (of  gen- 
eral education)  "only  as  the  baseless  fabric  of 
a  vision,  happily  quite  beyond  any  man's  power 
to  accomplish  on  a  large  scale,  but  calculated  so 
far  as  it  can  be  accomplished,  to  alarm  all  sober 


124  ESSENTIAIi  FEATURES  OP  A  SYSTEM 

and  prudent  persons  among  the  middle  and  upper 
orders  of  society,  and  to  render  the  labouring 
classes  uneasy,  unhappy,  and  dissatisfied;"  who 
think  that  "  it  would  not  be  one  jot  more  ridicu- 
lous for  some  friend  of  humanity  to  attempt  to 
improve  the  condition  of  tite  beasts  of  the  field  ; 
to  teach  the  horse  his  power,  and  the  cow  her 
value,  than  to  teach  tailors  and  cobblers  '  the 
beautiful  system  of  geometry.' "  It  ill  becomes  a 
republican  to  doubt  the  possibility  of  universal, 
and  comparatively  speaking,  of  liberal  education. 
It  convicts  him  of  the  still  greater  absurdity  of 
supposing  that  the  rulers,  the  legislators  of  the 
country,  (who  in  a  government  like  ours  are  sy- 
nonymous with  the  people,)  have  no  occasion  for 
extensive  intelligence. 

Every  reason  that  can  possibly  be  urged,  to 
show  the  importance  of  intelligence  on  the  part 
of  members  ctf  Congress  and  of  the  state  legisla- 
tures, demonstrates,  with  augmented  force,  the 
necessity  of  the  same  for  the  people,  who  appoint 
and  guide  them.  Is  intelligence  essential  to  a 
legislature  ?  Then,  the  people  who  control  its 
acts  should  be  enlightened.  Are  the  conse- 
quences of  ignorant  legislation  to  be  deprecated  ? 
Then,  ignorance  should  be  removed  from  the 
people,  the  fountain  of  legislation.  Would  it  be 
considered  the  height  of  folly,  to  send  to  the 
legislature  a  man  who  knows  nothing  of  the  laws, 
the  history,  the  constitution  of  his  country  ?     Then 


/ 


/ 


or  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  125 

there  should  not  be  such  a  private  man  in  the  com- 
munity ;  for  constituted  as  ourgovernment  is,  every 
man  is  a  legislator.  The  people  could  not  become 
their  own  shoemakers  without  acquiring  a  know- 
ledge of  the  art ;  no  more  can  they  become  their 
own  legislators,  without  suitable  education. 

Besides,  it  should  never  be  forgotten,  that  in 
this  country  every  man  legislates  for  others  as 
well  as  for  himself.  And  are  the  sacred  rights 
of  liberty  and  property  to  be  entrusted  to  men 
who  are  without  information  from  which  to  form 
their  opinions,  and  who  have  so  little  principle 
that  their  vote  may  be  purchased  for  a  pint  of 
whiskey  1  Just  as  soon  employ  for  your  physi- 
cian, a  man  who  is  unacquainted  with  the  pecu- 
liar properties  of  magnesia  and  arsenic.  The 
object  of  legislation  is  the  protection  of  our  rights  ; 
and  it  were  better  to  risk  our  lives  with  the  veriest 
quack  existing,  than  entrust  those  rights,  without 
which  life  is  but  a  burden,  to  the  control  of  men 
who  cannot  anticipate,  or  who  are  regardless  of 
the  consequences  of  their  official  conduct.  On 
the  day  of  an  election  you  go  to  the  polls,  and  are 
jostled  from  the  door  by  a  reeling  drunkard  on  the 
one  hand  ;  and  a  blustering  ignoramus,  with  a  false 
ticket  which  he  cannot  read,  on  the  other ;  to  both 
of  whom  as  portions  of  the  sovereign  people  you 
must  with  all  due  deference  give  way.  This  though 
is  but  a  trifling  consideration.  Have  you  pro- 
perty ?  These  men,  with  scarce  a  dollar  they  can 
11* 


126  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

call  their  own,  are  about  to  express  their  will,  (and 
it  will  weigh  as  much  as  yours)  whether  yowr  pro- 
perty shall  be  taxed  ;  to  what  extent  ;  and  for 
what  purposes  ;  and  their  voice  is  to  be  heard  in 
the  decision  of  a  principle  which  may  affect  the 
safety  of  your  dearest  interests.  What  then  is  to 
be  done  ?  Shall  they  be  denied  their  vote  ?  No ; 
of  two  evils  let  us  always  choose  the  least ;  espe- 
cially when  by  prudent  management,  we  can  con- 
trive to  make  its  duration  temporary.  The  only 
effectual  remedy  in  this  case,  is,  to  educate  their 
children  ;  and  thus  take  care,  that  for  every  one 
such  character  at  present,  we  do  not  entail  upon 
the  next  generation,  some  half  a  dozen  like  him. 
Most  solemnly  am  I  impressed  with  the  belief, 
that  unless  the  country  can  be  aroused  to  a  far 
deeper  sense  of  the  saving  necessity  of  education, 
and  of  a  species  of  education  incomparably  supe- 
rior to  that  which  now  satisfies  it,  we  shall,  in 
a  few  years,  have  on  our  hands  a  populace,  a 
canaille,  that  will  seriously  endanger,  if  they  do 
not  overwhelm  our  liberties.  Are  these  apprehen- 
sions groundless  ?  Whose  heart  does  not  quail 
at  the  prospects  of  his  country,  when  he  reads  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  foreign  paupers  crowd- 
ing our  shores  ;  and  hears  of  mob  after  mob,  even 
in  regions  where  material  for  such  a  thing  was 
not  suspected  to  exist  ;  and  sees  the  elections  in 
our  larger  towns  oftentimes  controlled  by  a  reck- 
less populace  ?     A  populace  should  have  no  exist- 


if  OF   NATIONAL   EDUCATION.  127 

eiice  in  a  republic.  It  is  utterly  incompatible 
with  its  safety,  to  say  nothing  of  its  well  being. 
The  people  composing  it  will  always  make  full 
use  of  the  power  given  them,  and  even  more. 
The  rabble  never  fail  to  vote  ;  and  being  the 
ready  tools  of  demagogues,  they  generally  vote 
wrong.  And  yet,  dangerous  as  such  a  descrip- 
tion of  persons  is  to  our  liberties,  who  does  not 
see  the  alarming  agrarian  tendency  of  things  in 
our  country  1  From  the  period  of  our  independ- 
ence down  to  the  present  moment,  power  has 
incessantly  been  striding  from  the  few  to  the 
many ;  there  has  been,  in  the  spirit  and  forms  of 
our  associated  governments,  a  steady  departure 
from  monarchy  toward  extreme  democracy,  till 
the  right  of  suffrage  is  exercised  without  discrimi- 
nation. The  power  of  the  people  has  been  thus 
extended  to  its  utmost  possible  limits ;  and  without 
the  saving  efficacy  of  universal  education,  it  will 
prove  to  be  merely  an  augmentation  of  power, 
without  a  proportionate  increase  of  principle,  and 
knowledge,  which  alone  confer  ability  to  use  it 
safely.  In  such  event,  its  possession  cannot  fail 
to  prove  unprofitable  to  its  holders,  and  dangerous 
to  the  commonwealth.  If  the  subjects  of  a  despo- 
tic prince  must  of  necessity  be  brutes,  what  is  an 
ignorant  self-governing  people  but  a  mob  ?  And 
we  had  better  risk  the  avarice  and  ambition  of  the 
most  arbitrary  sovereign  upon  earth,  than  be  at 
the  mercy  of  the  passions  of  a  lawless  populace. 


128  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

No  condition  of  society  can  be  imagined  more 
deplorable,  than  that,  in  which  numbers,  or  merely 
muscular  strength,  set  in  motion  by  the  baser  pas- 
sions, is  disproportionately  arrayed  against  virtue 
and  intelligence. 

What  then  is  to  be  done  to  arrest  the  progress 
of  this  dreaded  evil  ?  There  is  no  other  ansvi^er, 
werii  the  question  propounded  a  thousand  times, 
than  that  we  must,  by  the  salutary  influences  of 
real  education,  prevent  the  numbers  of  the  igno- 
rant and  vicious,  already  formidable,  from  beco- 
ming quadrupled,  by  their  descendants,  upon  the 
next  generation. 

But  here  it  behooves  us  to  consider,  that  the 
education  fitted  to  subserve  this  purpose  cannot 
be  forced  upon  our  youth  in  two  or  three  years. 
It  amounts  to  somelhmg  more  than  being  able 
simply  to  read  and  write.  These  attainments 
alone,  essential  as  they  are,  will  not  make  thek* 
possessor  a  valuable,  moral  member  of  society, 
and  an  intelligent,  safe  voter ;  and  any  amount 
or  kind  of  education  that  comes  short  of  these 
results,  is  unfit,  and  insufficient,  for  our  national 
wants.  Our  government  contemplates  and  makes 
every  man  tL  practical  politician  ;  and  I  maintain 
that  what  an  individual  is  obliged  to  practise  as 
a  man,  he  ought  to  learn  in  youth.  Every  man 
among  us  has  to  act  the  legislator,  and  the  only 
question  to  determine  is,  shall  he  do  it  well  or  ill  ? 
Every  body  is  expected   to   practise   morality ; 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  '   -      129 

all  should  then  be  taught  the  principles  of  moral 
science.  But  where  is  the  school  system  in  our 
country,  whose  requisitions  are  adapted  to  these 
comprehensive  ends  ? 

The  sentiment  is  general  enough  throughout  the 
Union,  that  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  society, 
together  with  the  permanence  of  our  free  institu- 
tions, depend  upon  the  universal  diffusion  of  know- 
ledge. But,  if  I  mistake  not,  we  impose  on  our- 
selves egregiously,  by  identifying  the  diffusion  of 
useful  knowledge,  with  what  is  commonly  called 
education.  We  confound  things  which  may  easily 
have  a  separate  existence,  as  cause  and  effect,  as 
means  and  end.  The  education  received  at  the 
schools  where  nine-tenths  of  the  children  of  the 
nation  are  instructed,  does  little  more  than,  by 
teaching  them  to  read,  put  it  in  their  power  to 
acquire  knowledge.  It  gives  them  none,  or  very 
little.  They  learn  to  read,  and  thereby  gain  a 
key  to  knowledge  ;  but  where  do  they  read  to 
learn  ?  It  is  certainly  not  at  school.  Look,  for 
example,  at  the  list  of  school  books,  published  a 
few  years  since  by  the  superintendent  of  common 
schools,  in  the  State  of  New-York  ;  and  select,  if 
you  can,  the  work  designed  to  teach  the  young 
their  future  duties  as  members  of  society,  and  of 
a  free  government.  Your  eyes  can  fix  on  but  a 
single  book  used  in  a  single  town,  out  of  the  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  seven  in  the  State,  which  pro- 
poses to  give  instruction  as  to  the  principles  of  the 


ISO  ESSENTIAI.   FEATURES    OF   A    SYSTEM 

government  under  which  our  children  are  to  live, 
and  in  whose  administration  they  will  have  to  par- 
ticipate 1  And  yet,  strange  to  tell,  the  New- York 
common  school  system  is  decidedly  the  best  in 
the  United  States.  To  the  honour  of  this  noble 
State,  she  has  of  late  been  making  most  exem- 
plary efforts  to  elevate  the  standard  of  education, 
by  establishing  neighbourhood  libraries,  and  by 
other  measures  ;  but  still  the  condition  of  her  com- 
mon schools,  at  the  period  of  which  I  speak,  would 
present  a  very  flattering  picture  of  the  present 
state  of  things  in  the  greater  part  of  the  Union. 
Does  not  this  most  impressively  demonstrate  the 
necessity  of  a  radical  reform  in  public  sentiment 
as  to  the  kind  and  quantity  of  education  requisite 
for  our  social  purposes  ? 

It  could  scarcely  be  believed,  did  not  the  gene- 
ral practice  force  it  on  our  notice,  that  the  total 
of  instruction  aimed  at  by  a  very  large  majority 
of  our  citizens  for  their  children,  consists  of  read- 
ing, writing,  and  ciphering  ;  to  which  are  occa- 
sionally added,  by  way  of  luxury,  a  little  geogra- 
phy, and  English  grammar.  Now,  to  suppose 
that  this,  even  were  it  gained  by  all,  is  a  suitable 
and  sufficient  education  for  a  self-governing  peo- 
ple, might  be  denominated  ludicrous,  were  it  not 
too  solemn  an  absurdity  to  admit  of  laughter.  The 
satirist  could  not  make  a  more  unexceptionable 
use  of  his  peculiar  talent,  than  by  exposing  this 
national   error  to  the  nation's  eyes.     Diogenes' 


W  OP  NATIONAL  EDDCATIOTr.i*>3  131 

cock,  when  stripped  of  his  feathers,  was  quite  as 
good  a  pretext  for  a  man,  as  this,  ibr  national  edu- 
cation. We  should  be  ashamed  to  employ  the 
following  as  our  reasoning,  when  discussing  the 
practicabihty  of  self-government ;  viz.  every  man 
who  can  read  and  write  (whether  he  reads  or 
not,)  is  capable  of  governing  himself,  and  of  assist- 
ing to  govern  others  ;  and  as  every  man  can  be 
taught  to  read  and  write,  therefore  republicanism 
is  practicable  ;  and  yet,  miserable  as  this  reason- 
ing is,  it  appears  to  furnish  the  criterion  by  which 
our  general  practice  is  regulated.  Ludicrous  as 
this  syllogism  seems,  it  nevertheless  exhibits  the 
foundation  on  which  we  profess  to  rest  the  hopes, 
not  only  of  our  own  nation,  but,  as  identified  with 
the  issue  of  our  experiment,  the  prospects  of  other 
countries  and  other  generations. 

Shame  on  that  parsimony,  the  foulest  blot  in 
our  national  character  and  history,  which  has 
given  practical  currency  to  such  preposterous 
reasoning. 

But  such  sentiments,  and  such  extravagant 
expectations,  will  not  be  suffered  to  continue  long 
among  us.  In  despite  of  the  too  much  dreaded 
cry  of  "  visionary,"  I  dare  avow  that  I  cherish  for 
the  cause  of  education  in  our  country,  not  only 
nobler  aspirations,  but  far  higher  hopes.  Yes  ; 
we  want  for  every  child  in  our  land  —  for  the  son 
of  the  farmer,  the  mechanic,  and  even  the  day 
labourer  —  as  well  as  for  the  child  of  the  lawyer, 


132  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES   OF  A  SYSTEM 

the  doctor,  the  clergyman,  and  the  merchant,  such 
an  education  as  will  enable  him  to  understand  his 
rights,  and  appreciate  his  privileges;  as  shall 
inspire  him  with  respect  both  for  himself,  and  for 
the  laws  ;  shall  qualify  him  for  discharging  the 
various  duties  he  owes  his  God,  his  country,  his 
neighbour,  and  himself;  in  short,  such  an  educa- 
tion as  can  make  him  equal  to  his  condition,  both 
as  a  private  citizen,  and  as  a  participator  either 
directly  or  indirectly  in  the  administration  of  the 
government.  There  is  ample  time  for  education 
allotted  by  Providence  during  the  minority  of  each 
individual ;  and  as  a  nation,  we  have  most  abun- 
dantly the  means ;  what  then  hinders  the  attain- 
ment of  our  proudest  wishes,  the  realizing  our 
tondest  hopes,  but  the  want  of  faith  and  of  a  hearty 
will? 

To  return  however,  to  the  point  from  which  we 
set  out ;  I  conclude  that  although  seven  years  are 
by  no  means  more  than  sufficient  to  give  such  an 
education  as  is  required  by  the  nature  of  our 
institutions  ;  yet,  so  far  is  this  demand  ahead  of 
the  general  practice  throughout  the  United  States, 
that  we  have  not  a  single  legislature  which  could 
attempt  to  execute  it,  as  a  part  of  its  common 
school  requisitions,  with  the  slightest  prospect  of 
success.  Nor  will  its  practicability  be  rendered 
in  the  least  degree  more  probable,  until  a  mighty 
revolution  shall  have  been  effected  in  the  senti- 


/ 


OP  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  133 

ments  of  the  people,  both  as  to  the  range,  and 
as  to  the  value  of  education. 


SECTION    IV. 

Importance  of  establishing  Seminaries  for  the  Professional  educa- 
tion of  Teachers. 

The  fifth  feature  which  I  deem  essential  in  a  sys- 
tem of  American  education  is,  that  "  It  must  esta- 
blish Seminaries  for  the  Professional  education  of 
a  sufficient  number  of  Teachers." 

This  is  by  far  the  most  important  of  all  the 
arrangements  requisite  to  put  in  operation  a  pro- 
per system  of  national  education.  Till  this  is 
made,  all  other  measures  will  have  but  little 
effect. 

The  necessity  and  value  of  such  a  provision 
have  been  so  ably  stated  by  others,  that  I  shall 
express  my  views  in  regard  to  it,  by  making  a  feyr 
quotations.  It  will  be  perceived  from  these,  that 
the  minds  of  all  who  have  reflected  upon  the 
subject,  are  fully  impressed  with  the  belief,  that 
every  thing,  as  to  the  improvement  and  spread  of 
education,  depends  essentially  upon  the  elevation 
of  the  business  of  teaching  to  the  rank  of  a  pro- 
fession. 

The  following  is  from  one  of  the  annual  mes- 
sages of  Gov.  Clinton  to  the  Legislature  of  New- 
12 


184  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

York.  "  Our  system  of  instruction,  (he  remarks,) 
with  all  its  numerous  benefits,  is  still,  however, 
susceptible  of  great  improvements.  Ten  years 
of  the  life  of  a  child,  may  now  be  spent  in  a  com- 
mon school.  In  two  years  the  elements  of  instruc- 
tion may  be  acquired  ;  and  the  remaining  eight 
years  must  be  spent  either  in  repetition,  or  in  idle- 
ness, unless  the  teachers  of  common  schools  are 
competent  to  instruct  in  the  higher  branches  of 
knowledge.  The  outlines  of  Geography,  Algebra, 
Mineralogy,  Agricultural  Chemistry,  Mechanical 
Philosophy,  Surveying,  Geometry,  Astronomy, 
Political  Economy,  and  Ethics,  might  be  commu- 
nicated in  that  period  of  time  by  able  preceptors, 
without  essential  interference  with  the  calls  of 
domestic  industry.  The  vocation  of  a  teacher  in 
its  influence  on  the  destinies  of  the  rising  and  all 
future  generations,  has  either  not  been  fully  under- 
stood or  not  duly  estimated.  It  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
ranked  among  the  learned  professions.  With  the 
full  admission  of  the  respectability  of  several,  who 
now  officiate  in  that  capacity,  still  it  raust  be  con- 
ceded, that  the  information  of  many  of  the 
instructers  of  common  schools,  does  not  extend 
beyond  rudimental  education,  that  our  expanding 
population  requires  constant  accession  to  their 
numbers,  and  that  to  realize  their  views,  it  is  ne- 
cessary that  some  new  plan  for  obtaining  able 
teachers,  should  be  devised.  I  therefore  recom- 
mend a  Seminary  for  the  education  of  teachers 


"•''  '  OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  135 

in  the  monitorial  system  of  instruction  and  in  those 
useful  branches  of  knowledge,  which  are  proper 
to  engraft  on  elementary  attainments."  'h 

Of  the  source  of  the  following  remarks,  on  the 
same  subject,  I  regret  that  I  am  ignorant ;  bat 
they  will  be  found  to  recommend  themselves. 

"  The  character  of  schools,  and  of  course  their 
political,  moral,  and  religious  influence  on  the  com- 
munity, depend  almost  solely  on  the  character  of 
the  teachers.  Their  influence  is  strong  or  weak, 
just  in  proportion  as  the  instructers  are  skilful  or 
ignorant,  energetic  or  feeble  ;  it  is  in  this  direction 
or  that  direction,  just  as  they  are  imbued  with  one 
or  another  principle.  So  that  whatever  is  done  to 
elevate  the  character  of  teachers,  elevates  at  the 
same  time  and  in  the  same  degree,  the  character 
of  the  schools  which  they  teach,  and  enlarges  and 
strengthens  their  influence  on  the  community. 
And  whatever  is  done  or  suffered  to  lower  the 
character  of  teachers,  must  sink  at  the  same  time 
and  in  the  same  degree,  the  character  of  schools, 
and  destroy  or  prevent  their  influence  upon 
society.  I  am  aware  that  many  other  considera- 
tions  must  be  taken  into  the  account  in  organizing 
an  energetic  and  perfect  system  of  instruction. 
But  all  of  them,  though  important,  are  subsequent 
in  their  nature  to  the  preparation  of  teachers ; 
and  none  can  be  attempted  with  a  reasonable 
expectation  of  accomplishing  them  to  the  greatest 
advantage,  until  good  teachers  are  provided  and 


136  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

ready  for  the  work.  It  would  be  beginning  wrong, 
to  build  houses,  and  tell  your  young  and  inexpe- 
rienced instructers,  to  teach  this  or  to  teach  that 
subject,  however  desirable  a  knowledge  of  such 
subjects  might  be,  whilst  it  is  obvious  that  they 
cannot  know  how  properly  to  teach  any  subject. 
The  science  of  teaching,  for  it  must  be  made  a 
science,  is  first  in  the  order  of  nature.  And  it  i» 
to  this  point  that  attention  must  first  be  applied  in 
order  to  effect  any  essential  improvements." 

In  strict  accordance  with  these  views,  are  those 
of  the  illustrious  Cousin,  as  expressed  in  the  sub- 
joined extract. 

"  It  is  a  principle  generally  established  in  Prus- 
sia, that  the  goodness  of  a  school  is  in  exact  pro- 
portion to  the  goodness  of  the  master.  What  con- 
stitutes a  good  school  is  not  a  fine  building.  It 
is  not  even  the  excellence  of  the  regulations,  which 
without  a  faithful  and  intelligent  execution  of 
them,  are  only  useless  on  paper.  A  school  is 
what  its  director  is.  He  is  the  life  and  soul  of  it. 
If  he  is  a  man  of  ability,  he  will  turn  the  poorest 
and  humblest  elements  to  account ;  if  he  is  inca- 
pable, the  best  and  most  prolific,  will  remain  ster- 
ile in  his  hands.** 

A  committee  of  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut, 
in  its  report,  observes,  that  "inattention  to  the 
character  and  qualifications  of  teachers  will  be 
followed  by  deplorable  consequences.  Without 
IMSsiduous,  efficient,  moral,  and  learned  teachers, 


OP  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.        137 

our  schools  must  sink.  The  dividends  of  our  mu- 
nificent funds,  may  indeed  be  drawn  from  the 
treasury,  and  the  schools  opened  and  kept  for  a 
time  sufficient  to  absorb  them  by  incompetent  in- 
structers  ;  but  the  standard  of  education  will  soon 
be  lowered,  the  community  cease  to  be  animated 
by  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  a  large  portion  of 
our  youth  be  consigned  to  ignorance  and  immo^- 
ralily."  ^ 

A  committee  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachu- 
setts, after  declaring  that  the  free  schools  of  the 
Commonwealth  are  not  such  as  they  ought  to  be, 
that  they  fail  most  essentially  of  accomplishing 
the  high  object  for  which  they  were  established, 
proceeds  — 

"  Nor  is  there  any  difficulty  in  arriving  at  the 
true  cause;  can  it  in  a  great  majority  of  cases  be 
traced  to  any  other  than  the  incompetency  of 
teachers  ?  And  in  this  fact  there  is  nothing  mys- 
terious. Can  the  teachers  be  otherwise  than 
incompetent,  when  no  pains  are  taken  to  instruct 
them  in  the  business  of  their  profession  ;  when  in 
one  word,  they  are  not  reputed  and  constituted  a 
profession  ?" 

The  following  and  last  quotation  that  I  shall 
make,  contains  a  very  solemn,  and  I  would  fain 
hope,  irresistible  appeal  to  the  reason  and  affec- 
tions of  all  parents.  ,  -tj 

"  To  whom  do  we  assign  the  business  of  in- 
structing and  governing  our  children  from  four  to 
18* 


138  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

twelve  years  of  age  ?  Who  take  upon  themselves 
the  trust  of  forming  those  principles  and  habits 
which  are  formed  and  confirmed  in  manhood,  and 
make  our  innocent  little  ones,  through  life  happy 
or  miserable  in  themselves,  and  the  blessing  or 
the  curse  of  society  ?  This  is  the  only  service  in 
which  we  venture  to  employ  young  and  often  ig- 
norant persons  without  some  previous  instruction 
in  their  appropriate  duties.  We  require  experi- 
ence in  all  those  whom  we  employ  to  perform 
the  slightest  mechanical  labour  for  us.  We  would 
not  buy  a  coat  or  a  hat  of  one  who  should  under- 
take to  make  them  without  a  previous  apprentice- 
ship. Nor  would  any  one  have  the  hardihood  to 
offer  us  the  result  of  his  first  essay  in  manufac- 
turing either  of  these  articles.  We  do  not  even 
send  an  old  shoe  to  be  mended,  except  it  is  to  a 
workman,  of  whose  skill  we  have  had  ample 
proof.  Yet  we  commit  our  children  to  be  edu- 
cated, to  those  who  know  nothing,  absolutely 
nothing,  of  the  complicated  and  difl[icult  duties 
assigned  to  them.  Shall  we  trust  the  develope- 
ment  of  the  delicate  bodies,  the  susceptive  hearts, 
and  tender  minds  of  our  little  children,  to  those 
who  have  no  knowledge  of  their  nature  ?  Can 
they,  can  these  rude  hands  finish  the  workman- 
ship of  the  Almighty  ?  No  language  can  express 
the  astonishment  which  a  moment's  reflection  on 
this  subject  excites  in  me." 

It  would  be  as  impracticable,  as  unnecessary, 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.         139 

to  offer  much  in  addition  to  these  quotations,  to 
illustrate  the  importance  of  the  subject  to  which 
they  relate.  I  shall  sum  up  all  I  have  to  say  in  a 
single  suggestion,  which  affords  a  most  impres- 
sive and  expansive  theme  for  reflection. 

Just  let  it  be  recollected,  that  where  the  theory 
of  our  government  is  realized,  every  single  indi- 
vidual is  supposed  to  have  gone  to  school ;  in 
other  words,  that  every  mind,  and  every  heart  in 
the  community,  has  been  subjected  to  the  influence 
of  teachers ;  and  this,  too,  in  the  ductile  period  of 
childhood,  and  tor  six  or  seven  years.  Add  to 
this  what  every  body  remembers  respecting  the 
reverence  and  confidence  with  which  his  teach- 
er's opinions  were  received;  that  the  "master 
hath  said  it,"  were  almost  regarded  as  "sacra- 
mental words  ;"  and  to  this,  what  every  body 
knows  and  feels  in  relation  to  the  permanence  of 
early  impressions ;  and  where,  I  would  ask,  is  the 
class  of  men  in  society,  to  whom  one-half  as 
much  has  been  entrusted  ?  And  yet,  this  is  the 
station  for  which  almost  any  one  is  considered 
suitable,  and  in  which  alone,  of  all  I  he  various 
avocations  of  life,  professional  experience  and 
skill,  are  practically  deemed  unnecessary.  There 
is  not  a  single  legislature  in  the  Union  but  that 
of  New- York,  (and  it  but  very  lately,)  which  has 
commenced  to  act  upon  this  subject ;  or  which, 
(to  speak  without  exaggeration  of  the  importance 
of  this  measure,)  has  begun  at  the  beginning. 


140  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 


SECTION  V. 

Love  of  money  the  true  cause  of  the  defective  state  ofeducatioa 
among  us.  —  Acknowledged  imperfection  of  our  best  school 
systems.  —  Has  been  almost  a  universal  mistake  to  try  to  make 
education  general  by  making  it  cheap.  —  This  has  tended  to 
throw  the  business  of  instruction  into  the  hands  of  inferior  men. 
—  Depreciation  of  the  quality  of  education  a  necessary  conse- 
quence. —  Our  pecuniary  provision  for  the  cause  of  education 
altogether  inadequate. 

The  sixth  essential  feature  of  a  system  of  national 
education  suited  to  the  United  States  is,  that  "  It 
must  provide  means  for  the  accommodation  and 
comfortable  support  of  teachers," 

Until  this  is  done,  that  is,  until  school-houses 
and  teachers  are  provided,  all  other  arrangements 
are  of  no  account.  Hence  the  raising  of  money 
has  constituted  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  im- 
portant problems  connected  with  legislation  upon 
the  subject.  But  why  has  this  been  difficult  ? 
Because  as  a  nation  we  are  too  poor  to  afford 
to  educate  our  children  liberally  ?  Our  commer- 
cial, agricultural,  and  manufacturing  statistics  give 
an  overwhelming  answer  in  the  negative.  What 
then  has  been  the  cause  of  difficulty  ?  The  real 
answer  expressed  in  the  simplest  language  that 
can  be  employed  is,  that  the  people  have  not  felt 
the  necessity  and  worth  of  education  as  they 
ought.  The  money  requisite  for  all  the  purposes 
of  education  must  in  one  shape  or  other  come 


OP  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  141 

from  them,  and  the  great  and  engrossing  legis- 
lative question,  in  this  country,  has  ever  been,  how 
shall  they  be  got  to  furnish  it  ? 

In  some  other  countries,  in  Prussia  for  example, 
a  very  summary  answer  has  been  given  to  this 
inquiry.  A  royal  edict  being  issued,  demanding 
so  much  of  each  district,  the  officers  of  govern- 
ment, backed  by  a  standing  army,  enforce  the 
payment  of  the  amount  without  regard  to  the  will 
of  the  people  upon  the  subject.  It  has  been 
assumed  that  the  welfare  and  safety  of  the  country 
and  of  the  government  require  that  the  people 
should  be  educated,  and  therefore  the  raising  of 
money  for  this  purpose  has  been  put  upon  the 
footing  of  any  other  tax  designed  to  further 
these  essential  ends. 

Precisely  such  have  been  the  assumption  and 
the  doctrine  in  the  United  States,  as  they  should  be 
every  where  ;  but  we  have  to  employ  very  diffe- 
rent methods  of  putting  them  in  execution.  What 
may  be  done  under  a  despotic  government  by 
force,  must  be  done  under  a  free  government 
from  choice.  With  us,  the  government  and  the 
governed  are  the  same.  The  former  has,  or  ought 
to  have,  no  interests,  as  it  has  no  rights,  nor  means, 
separated  from  the  latter.  In  Prussia,  the  pay- 
ment of  taxes  is  involuntary.  With  us,  taxation 
(at  least  so  far  as  relates  to  the  majority*)  is  a 

*  This  is  a  very  important  distinction ;  for,  taxation,  with  refer- 
ftJce   to  the  minority,  is  as  really  a  matter  of  coercion  in  the 


142  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

voluntary  contribution.  It  can  in  no  case  be  im- 
posed, or  at  least  retained  in  force,  without  the 
approbation  of  the  larger  part  of  the  voters  in  the 
country  ;  and  as  the  advocates  of  efficient  mea- 
sures for  the  benefit  of  education  are  for  the  most 
part  greatly  in  the  minority,  they  have  been 
reduced  to  the  necessity  of  employing  legislative 
tact,  to  accomplish  what  they  have  not  been  able 
to  effect  by  the  naked  force  of  reasoning  and 
principle. 

It  was  this  that  gave  rise  to  the  ingenious  strata- 
gem (for  such  it  certainly  is,)  of  a  conditional  ap- 
propriation of  the  proceeds  of  a  fund,  which  forms 

United  States,  as  it  is  in  Prussia.  A  legislative  statute,  in  this 
country,  is  an  authoritative  expression  ot'the  will  of  the  represented 
majority  which  is  as  binding  upon  the  minority  both  in  and  ©ut 
of  the  legislature,  as  it  is  upon  the  majority.  All  option 
ceases  equally  on  the  part  of  both,  the  moment  a  formal  expres- 
sion of  this  will  is  made;  and  thenceforward,  (unless  the  statute 
expire  by  limitation,  or  be  repealed,)  both  are  obliged  to  obey  ;  the 
former,  even  though  a  sufficient  number  should  change  their 
minds  to  throw  the  balance  in  favour  of  the  other  side ;  and  the 
latter,  no  odds  how  averse  they  may  be  to  doing  so. 

Hence,  taxation  as  really  involves  compulsion,  in  a  Republic, 
as  in  a  despotic  government ;  and  the  represented  majority  have 
as  much  a  right,  in  strict  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  our  insti- 
tutions, to  use  coercive  measures  for  the  support  of  education,  as 
the  king  of  Prussia  has,  or  as  they  themselves  have,  for  the  sup- 
port of  government. 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  state  this  principle  thus 
explicitly,  because  of  its  important  bearing  on  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion ;  and  to  show  still  more  clearly  the  propriety  of  the  use  which 
1)^«  been  made  pf  it  iq  other  parts  of  this  volume, 


OP  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  143 

the  leading  feature  in  all  our  school  systems,  and 
is  rapidly  bringing  the  children  of  the  nation  into 
attendance  upon  the  public  schools,  such  as  they 
are.  The  people  at  large  not  being  sufficiently 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  education  to 
allow,  or  rather  to  make,  through  their  represent- 
atives, a  direct  and  ample  draft  on  property  for 
its  advancement,  have  been  allured  to  acquiesce 
in  legislative  action  for  this  purpose,  by  the  seeming 
offer  of  pecuniary  inducement.  Their  property 
in  lands,  or  stocks,  or  in  some  other  form,  has 
been  taken  and  converted  into  a  fund,  and  then 
they  have  been  told,  that  if  they  would  raise  as 
much  more  by  a  voluntary  tax,  they  would  receive 
their  quota  of  the  proceeds  of  this  fund. 

The  expedient  is  a  perfectly  fair  one,  and  reflects 
great  credit  on  the  tact  of  its  originators,  for  it 
has  operated  like  a  charm.  It  is  only  a  very  partial 
exercise  of  the  authority  which  the  legislature  has 
a  moral  and  constitutional  right  to  extend  much 
further,  were  it  practicable.  All  that  can  be 
regretted  about  it,  is  the  state  of  public  sentiment 
and  feeling  on  which  its  necessity  is  founded. 
That  we  should  have  to  be  beguiled  into  the  execu- 
tion of  an  end  so  important,  and  so  noble,  to  say 
the  least,  is  mortifying.  It  does  not  present  us  in 
a  dignified  or  enviable  light  to  foreigners  who 
reproach  us  for  our  boastful  pride  in  our  institu- 
tions. It  affords  the  rather  singular  if  not  ludicrous 
spectacle  of  a  wealthy,  free,  and  independent  peo- 


144  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES   OP  A  SYSTEM 

pie,  saying  to  themselves  —  "We  are  not  suffi- 
ciently persuaded  of  the  advantages  of  general 
education  to  allow  our  legislatures  to  tax  us  to  any 
extent,  directly,  for  its  promotion,  but  we  will  per- 
mit them  to  take  some  of  our  property  and  use  it 
for  this  purpose,  provided  they  will  give  it  back 
to  us  on  the  condition  that  we  shall  give  them 
more  !  That  is,  we  will  first  tax  ourselves  for  the 
creation  of  a  common  fund,  and  then  we  will  dis- 
tribute its  interest  among  ourselves,  for  the  purpose 
of  prevailing  upon  ourselves  to  tax  ourselves  still 
further,  to  educate  our  children !" 

But  why  should  I  seem  to  strive  to  give  the  utmost 
prominence  to  circumstances  which  are  by  no 
means  creditable  to  our  national  character  ?  It 
is  precisely  because  I  love  my  countr)%  and  would 
infinitely  rather  contribute  to  her  lasting  benefit 
by  the  exposure  of  her  faults,  than  help  to  injure 
her  by  flattering  her  vanity  by  their  concealment. 
Yes,  I  love  my  country,  and  am  proud  of  her  insti- 
tutions ;  I  am  proud  of  her  history,  proud  of  her 
present  comparative  condition,  and  still  prouder  of 
her  animating  prospects,  I  dare  avow,  that  I  expect 
for  herself  in  the  way  of  national  glory  and  felicity, 
the  utmost  that  any  rational  enthusiast  has  ever 
predicted  ;  and  for  the  world  at  large,  all  the 
benefit  which  has  ever  been  promised  it  from  her 
example.  But  I  expect  this  solely  because  of 
my  belief  in  the  preserving,  elevating,  and  trans- 
forrhing  influence  of  education,  properly  so  called  : 


^^^O*-   NATIONAL   EDrCATION.  145 

and  when  I  see,  that  although  a  kind  Providence 
has  blessed  her  with  abundant  means  to  make 
this  universal  through  her  borders,  she  prefers 
expending  them  for  superfluous  articles  of  dress, 
or  food,  or  furniture,  or  equipage ;  how  can  I  avoid 
joining  in  the  cry  of  shame  1  shame  on  such  ingrati- 
tude and  want  of  policy  ! 

It  is  impossible  to  deny  that  the  hve  of  money, 
—  that  "  root  of  all  evil," —  that  foe  to  all  good, 
presents  the  only  hinderance  to  the  speedy  estab- 
lishment of  a  system  of  national  education  that 
would  soon  dispel  the  forebodings  which  the  re- 
cent history  of  our  country  has  forced  upon  the 
minds  of  thousands  of  her  most  patriotic  citizens, 
and  reinspire  us  with  hope  that  there  is  yet  before 
her,  a  long,  a  glorious,  and  a  beneficent  career. 

But  what  is  the  immediate  object  for  which  the 
means  are  thus  begrudged,  or  are  so  stintedly 
supplied  ?  Is  it  designed  to  send  them  abroad  for 
the  purpose  of  supplying  foreign  charities  ?  or  to 
expend  them  at  home  on  public  works,  or  upon 
some  other  objects,  whose  benefits,  though  great, 
are  indirect  ?  No  —  but  for  the  education  of 
our  children,  and  of  the  children  of  our  political 
brethren  —  for  the  honour,  the  safety,  and  the 
lasting  happiness  of  our  families,  and  of  our  com- 
mon country.  The  spectacle  of  a  rich  but  miserly 
father  poring  over  his  dusty  bags  of  gold,  sur- 
rounded by  a  family  of  half-starved,  rag-clad  chil- 
dren ;  or,  of  a  noble  vessel  heaving  and  plunging 
13 


146  ESSENTIAIi  FEAfURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

on  the  eve  of  ruin,  while  her  passengers  refuse  to 
throw  their  chattels  overboard,  though  to  save  her 
from  destruction,  presents  but  a  feeble  picture 
of  a  wealthy  nation  grudging  a  pittance  from  its 
yearly  earnings  to  educate  its  youth,  and  to  pre- 
serve its  institutions  from  impending  ruin. 

The  cry  is  general  —  ^Hhe  country  is  in  danger P* 
The  opinion  is  universal,  that  in  education  is  our 
only  safety ;  and  yet,  millions  of  surplus  wealth 
are  annually  squandered  upon  objects  worse  than 
useless,  while  the  minds  and  hearts  of  our  future 
citizens  are  allowed  to  go  uneducated,  constantly 
swelling  the  formidable  mass  of  vice  and  ignorance 
*vhich  even  now,  as  some  think,  threatens  the  safety 
of  our  government.  Oh  the  waste  of  intellect !  the 
waste  of  unemployed,  and  misdirected  mind  in  our 
country  !  Who,  who  can  rightl)'  estimate  it  1  and 
yet  what  is  doing  for  its  cultivation  ?  We  cannot 
evade  the  charge,  that  our  legislative  provisions 
for  this  object  have  been  wholly  insufficient ;  and 
that  as  a  necessary  consequence,  the  prevalent 
education  in  our  country  is  alike  beneath  the  dig- 
nity and  wants  of  a  republican  people. 

I  shall  devote  the  remainder  of  this  section  to 
a  demonstration  of  this  fact. 

There  are  not  a  few  who  are  disposed  to  ques- 
tion whether  legislation  has  not  done  more  harm 
than  good  to  education  in  the  United  States.  This 
impression,  however,  is  extravagant,  and  does  not 
sufficiently  take  into  consideration  the  clogs  with 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  147 

which  legislation  has  been  fettered  in  consequence 
of  the  dependent  relation  it  sustains  to  public  sen- 
timent. Still,  although  our  governments  have 
done  much  for  which  the  nation's  thanks  are  due, 
their  measures  have  been  in  some  respects  very 
injudicious,  and  at  best,  when  speaking  compara- 
tively with  our  social  wants,  have  been  in  a  great 
degree  unproductive,  in  consequence  of  the  excess- 
ive economy  by  which  they  have  been  uniformly 
marked. 

We  have  been  so  long  accustomed  to  admire, 
and  even  to  revere,  those  common  school  systems 
by  which  one-fourth  of  the  entire  population  of  a 
state  has  been  assembled,  at  the  same  time,  to 
receive  instruction  ;  which  have  placed  a  school- 
house  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  the  home  of 
every  child  ;  and  have  professedly  put  the  children 
of  the  rich  and  poor  upon  the  same  intellectual 
level ;  that  it  is  rather  an  invidious  undertaking, 
to  allude  to  probable  imperfections  as  appertain- 
ing to  them.  Through  the  propensity  we  naturally 
have  to  concentrate  upon  an  object  of  admiration 
all  possible  perfection,  we  are  disposed  to  regard 
such  wonderful  results  as  incontestable  evidence 
of  the  intrinsic  merits  of  the  systems  which  pro- 
duced them,  and  to  think  it  safe  to  adopt  their 
provisions  almost  without  investigation  or  scrutiny. 
But  if  it  be,  that  there  are  obvious  and  acknow- 
ledged imperfections  belonging  to  them  ;  this  very 
propensity  affords  the  strongest  motive  for  our 


148  ESSENTIAL    rEATURES    OF    A    SYSTEM 

observing  a  cautious  prudence  in  imitation.  That 
there  are  such  imperfections,  I  shall  endeavour  to 
show  not  only  in  ray  own  words,  but  in  the  far 
stronger  language  of  some  who  have  been  ac- 
quainted with  these  systems  from  intimate  obser- 
vation and  experience.  The  first  quotation  I  shall 
make  is  from  the  report  of  the  superintendent  of 
common  schools  in  New- York,  made  January  23, 
1827,  and  is  as  follows: 

"  The  system  of  education,"  says  the  executive 
committee  of  Massachusetts,  "  as  now  supported 
by  the  provisions  of  law,  has  but  little  changed 
with  all  the  astonishing  changes  which  half  a  cen- 
tury of  national  independence,  of  vicissitude  from 
poverty  and  privation,  to  public  and  private  pros- 
perity, wealth  and  luxury,  has  produced. 

"This  remark,"  the  superintendent  continues, 
"  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  our  state. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  rapid  advances  which 
this  state  has  made  in  population,  in  wealth,  in 
agriculture,  manufactures,  and  internal  improve- 
ments ;  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  the  mode  of 
instruction  in  the  great  mass  of  the  common 
schools  has  remained  almost  stationary.  This  re- 
mark is  not  applied  disparagingly,  but  in  reference 
to  the  state  of  the  common  schools,  compared  with 
that  elevated  character  which  it  is  desirable  they 
should  attain. 

♦'  In  Connecticut,  the  annual  distribution  of  the 
vchool  money  amounts  to  eighty-five  cents  to  each 


M  "I'i  t)¥"  National  education.     -,  149 

jyerson  enumerated  between  four  and  sixteen ; 
and  in  a  recent  report  of  a  committee  to  the  legis- 
lature, it  is  stated,  that  *lhe  common  schools  on 
which  as  on  a  favourite  child,  the  public  resources 
have  been  lavished  with  great  liberality,  but  with 
little  care,  have  been  gradually  declining  in  their 
standing.  The  result  of  the  experiment,  has  de- 
cided that  no  appropriations  of  money  will  secure 
the  increasing  prosperity  of  schools.'" 

Mr.  J.  Orville  Taylor,  to  whom  the  American 
public  are  indebted  for  a  very  valuable  work  on 
"District  Schools,"  expresses  the  opinion  that " The 
school  systems  which  the  several  states  in  the 
Union,  with  the  exception  of  four  or  five,  have 
devised  and  adopted,  are  miserably  deficient  and 
defective.  Perhaps  the  workings  of  our  best  sys- 
tems are  such  that  even  these  exceptions  should 
not  be  made." 

Another  distinguished  advocate  of  education  in 
New- York,  John  Duer,  Esq.  says,  that,  "  Looking 
to  the  modes  of  Germany  and  France,  no  system 
of  public  instruction  has  yet  been  organized  in 
any  of  the  states,  and  in  none  has  the  appropriate 
work  of  legislation  been  more  than  commenced. 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  avow  the  belief  that  without 
regulations  far  more  extensive  than  have  yet  been 
introduced,  a  control  far  more  enlightened  and 
constant  than  has  yet  been  exercised  —  and  fiscal 
aid  far  more  ample  than  has  yet  been  afforded — 
it  is  vain  to  expect  that  the  character  of  our 
13* 


150  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES   OF  A   SYSTEM 

common  schools  can  be  truly  and  permanently 
improved." 

The  following  language  on  this  subject,  is  em- 
ployed by  a  committee  of  the  legislature  of  Mas- 
gachusetts  in  its  report : 

"It  needs  at  this  time,  neither  arguments  nor 
an  exhibition  of  facts,  to  demonstrate  to  the  legis- 
lature, that  the  free  schools  of  the  commonwealth 
are  not  such  as  they  ought  to  be  ;  that  they  fail 
most  essentially  of  accomplishing  the  high  objects 
for  which  they  were  established,  and  towards  the 
support  of  which,  so  large  an  amount  of  money  is 
annually  raised  among  the  people.  XTpon  this 
subject,  public  opinion  is  fully  settled" 

With  such  testimony  of  the  imperfection,  and 
comparative  unfruitfulness,  of  the  common  school 
systems  of  the  three  states  which  have  been  the 
pioneers  and  models  for  the  rest  of  the  Union  ; 
testimony  consisting  of  direct  admissions  on  the 
part  of  persons  officially  connected  with  them  ;  it 
cannot  be  considered  presumptuous  that  I  should 
undertake  to  specify  some  of  the  details  in  which 
these  concessions  are  verified,  and  thus  endeav- 
our to  make  good  the  latter  part  of  my  assertion, 
viz  ;.,^that  the  measures  adopted  by  the  older 
states  for  the  promotion  of  education  have  been 
in  some  respects  extremely  injudicious,  and  con- 
sequently in  a  great  measure  unproductive,        too 

Here,  I  would  premise,  that  all  the  common 
school  systems  in  the  United  States  may  be  re- 


OF  NATIONAL.  ♦P^CATION.  151 

duced  to  three  classes :  the  first  originating  with 
Massachusetts  ;  the  second  with  Connecticut ;  the 
third  and  best,  (being  but  a  combination  of  the 
other  two,)  with  New- York.  In  providing  the 
means  for  defraying  the  expense  of  general  edu- 
cation, Massachusetts  relies  almost  exclusively 
upon  district  taxation  ;  Connecticut  to  as  great  an 
extent  upon  her  fund  ;  and  New- York,  most  wise- 
ly, upon  both  ;  using  the  proceeds  of  a  fund  as  a 
stimulant  to  voluntary  taxation. 

Not  to  dwell  on  mistakes  appertaining  to  par- 
ticular systems,  it  appears  to  me  that  all  our  legis- 
lation throughout  the  Union  is  justly  chargeable 
with  the  following  defect,  viz.  —  that  the  tenden- 
cy, if  not  the  aim  of  legislative  action  has  been, 
to  make  education  general,  hy  making  it  cheap. 

The  only,  or  at  least,  the  principal  object  of 
most  of  our  legislatures  seems  to  have  been  the 
multiplication  of  schools.  In  this  some  of  them 
have  succeeded  to  perfection.  I  can  scarcely  im- 
agine an  additional  school  to  be  wanting,  where 
there  is  already  provided  one  for  every  fifty  chil- 
dren between  the  ages  of  five  and  fifteen. 

But,  generally  speaking,  it  has  been,  (according 
to  the  admission  of  eastern  men  themselves,  as 
already  shown,)  a  multiplication  of  had  schools. 
Regard  has  been  had,  almost  exclusively,  to  the 
amount,  and  not  enough  to  the  quality  of  educa- 
tion. The  character  of  schools  has  been  sacri- 
ficed to  number. 


15'2  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OP  A  SYSTEM 

In  support  of  these  assertions,  I  remark  that 
the  excessive  economy  with  which  the  business  of 
education  has  been  managed  could  not  fail  to  be 
injurious  to  its  character.  There  is  in  every  thing 
an  invariable  and  obstinate  relation  between  qual- 
ity and  price,  which  is  above  the  control  of  legis- 
lation ;  and,  as  the  theory  has  been  to  make  ed- 
ucation universal  by  making  it  cheap,  deprecia- 
tion in  quality  has  been,  as  it  must  ever  be  id 
suchcaseSjthe  unavoidable  consequence.  Through- 
out New-England  and  New- York,  the  average 
wages  of  instructers  in  the  public  schools  do  not 
exceed  from  ten  to  twenty  dollars  a  month  ; 
whilst  those  of  stage  drivers,  hostlers,  and  even 
shoeblacks,  are  nearly,  if  not  quite  as  much. 

Now,  unless  it  can  be  made  to  appear,  either 
that  there  is  no  occasion  for  talents,  experience, 
and  attainments,  in  the  business  of  education  ;  or, 
that  these  can  be  purchased  at  the  same  rate  with 
the  most  menial  manual  labour ;  the  grade  of 
common  school  education  in  the  regions  mention- 
ed, could  not,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  different 
from  what  I  have  represiented  it  to  be.  I  appeal  to 
political  economists,  and  ask,  if,  according  to  the 
laws  and  circumstances  which  govern  human  ac- 
tion, it  is  not  absurd  to  expect  the  services  of  the 
mind  and  of  the  hand  for  the  same  remunera- 
tion ?  Suppose  the  wages  of  the  clergyman,  the 
physician,  the  lawyer,  and  the  statesman,  were 


OF  NATIONAL  ?:DUCATION.  153 

regulated  as  are  those  of  the  schoolmaster  ;  what 
would  be  the  result  ? 

It  is  a  principle  or  rule  to  which  there  is  no  ex- 
ception, that  "  productive  agents  will  always  di- 
rect their  attention  to  those  employments  where 
the  greatest  profits  may  be  realized."  It  is  true, 
scantiness  of  remuneration  may  be  compensated 
by  the  bestowment  of  honours  ;  and  the  absence 
of  the  latter  may  be  supplied  by  an  excess  of  the 
former.  For  many  civil  offices  which  are  far  from 
being  lucrative,  we  often  see  a  crowd  of  competit- 
ors ;  and  the  brutal  traffic  in  human  flesh,  because 
of  its  gains,  is  still  vigorously  prosecuted,  in  spite  of 
the  execrations  of  Christians  and  philanthropists. 

To  the  instructor  of  youth,  however,  neither  of 
these  inducements  is  held  out.  It  would  seem 
indeed,  as  if  the  employment  of  teaching  were 
purposely  loaded  with  every  thing  calculated  to 
deter  men  of  talents  and  attainments  from  em- 
barking in  it.  In  public  estimation,  it  is  scarcely 
a  reputable  business  ;  schoolmaster,  and  peda- 
gogue, being  often  used  as  terms  of  reproach.  It 
is  habitually  spoken  of  as  an  "humble  calling." 
The  statesman,  the  lawyer,  or  the  physician,  is 
lauded  to  the  skies  for  having  raised  himself  to  a 
dignified  position  in  society,  from  having  been  a 
schoolmaster.  The  young  instructer  is  sustained 
and  stimulated  by  no  hope  of  promotion.  To  ex- 
pect advancement  in  society,  he  must  rid  himself 
of  the  badges  of  his  office.     His  salary,  too,  is  not 


154  ESSENTIAL   FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

only  on  a  par  in  many  cases  with  that  of  the  day 
labourer,  but  connected  with  the  smallness  of  the 
pay,  there  is  this  peculiar  discouragement,  that  it 
is  fixed  and  made  permanent  either  by  law  or  cus- 
tom ;  so  that  there  is  but  little  hope,  (a  hope  en- 
joyed by  every  other  class  of  persons,)  that  en- 
terprise and  industry  will  be  rewarded  by  such 
an  increase  of  his  gains,  as  will  enable  him  to  lay 
by  something  for  the  future  wants  of  his  family. 

Under  such  <;ircumstances,  what  else  could 
reasonably  be  expected,  than  that  the  business  of 
education  should  be  conducted  by  the  refuse  tal- 
ents of  the  country  ?  What  man  of  sensibility  or 
self-respect  ever  embarks  in  the  employment  if 
he  can  avoid  it ;  or,  if  driven  to  it  from  necessity, 
continues  in  it  longer  than  can  be  helped  ? 

To  corroborate  these  statements,  I  appeal  to 
the  consciousness  of  every  one  who  doubts  their 
truth,  and  beg  him  to  ask  himself  the  honest  rea- 
son why  he  himself  does  not  become  a  schoolmas- 
ter? I  appeal  also  to  fact,  and  inquire,  for  ex- 
ample, who  are  the  teachers  of  the  common ^ree 
schools  of  New-England  ?  In  the  first  place,  they 
are,  in  a  majority  of  cases,  young,  unmarried  men. 
Secondly, and  consequently,  they  are  without  expe- 
rience. Thirdly,  their  engagements  are  but  tran- 
sient. Teaching  is  with  them  but  a  temporary 
expedient,  a  means  to  some  ulterior  end.  In  the 
summer,  when  the  larger  boys  are  needed  to  aid 
in  tlie  operations  on  the  farms,  the  schools  for  the 


?    or  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.         155 

smaller  children  are  taught  by  females,  who  uS' 
ually  receive  one  dollar,  or  at  most  two  or  three 
■dollars  a  week.  The  winter  schools  are  for  the 
most  part  taught,  either  by  students  of  colleges, 
who  obtain  leave  of  absence,  that  by  teaching  two 
or  three  months  they  may  supply  themselves  with 
the  means  to  pay  their  college  bills  ;  or  by  the 
sons  of  farmers,  who,  during  the  long  winters  of 
New-England,  are  without  employment. 

In  most  cases,  therefore,  teaching  is  anything 
but  a  permanent  business  in  which  ambition  and 
interest  prompt  the  incumbents  to  excel.  The 
making  a  little  ready  money,  and  not  the  improve- 
ment of  their  pupils  is,  avowedly,  their  principal 
object.  Of  course,  it  is  a  service  they  perform 
with  just  as  little  trouble  to  themselves  as  possi- 
ble. As  the  same  individuals  are  rarely  engaged 
two  or  three  winters  in  the  same  neighbourhood, 
or  even  in  the  business  any  where,  reputation  for 
teaching  is  scarcely  an  object  of  desire.  The 
character,  with  which  they  leave  the  school  com- 
mitted to  their  charge,  is  of  little  moment,  as  they 
do  not  expect  again  to  solicit  the  patronage  of  the 
neighbourhood.  In  the  absence  of  motive,  there- 
fore, fidelity  could  not  be  expected  ;  and  in  the 
absence  of  experience  and  consequently  of  skill, 
what  can  reasonably  be  looked  for  but  the  most 
injurious  preceptoral  quackery  ?  We  cannot 
demand  superior  workmanship  from  raw  appren- 
tices ;   nor  expect  that  patient,  painstaking,  and 


156  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

devoted  application,  which  successful  teaching 
requires,  from  mere  temporary  and  uninterested 
agents. 

To  show  that  I  am  sustained  in  these  impres- 
sions by  the  most  respectable  authority,  as  well  as 
by  what  I  believe  to  be  sound  reasoning,  I  quote 
the  opinion  and  acknowledgement  of  one  of  the 
superintendents  of  the  New- York  common  schools 
upon  the  subject.  No  one  in  our  country  has 
ever  enjoyed  better  opportunities  of  forming  cor- 
rect ideas  on  these  topics  than  Mr.  Flagg,  and  no 
one  has  improved  his  opportunities  better ;  yet  he 
declares  that  "  all  the  advantages  anticipated  from 
training  persons  to  become  teachers,  will  be  lost, 
unless  the  inhabitants  of  the  districts  are  willing 
to  make  such  compensation,  as  will  secure  the 
services  of  persons  thus  qualified.  The  miserable 
economy  which  not  unfrequently  prevails  of  employ- 
ing cheap  teachers  without  reference  to  their  fitness, 
has  a  tendency  to  depress,  rather  than  to  elevate 
the  standard  of  education  in  our  Common  Schools.** 

To  prove  still  further  that  these  assertions  are 
true  and  not  illiberal,  I  may  refer  to  the  history 
of  pecuniary  provisions  for  the  advancement  of 
education.  We  cannot  for  a  moment  take 
ground,  in  self-defence,  in  any  quarter  of  the 
Union,  against  the  charge,  that  these  have  been 
altogether  inadequate  ;  beneath  the  dignity  as  well 
as  against  the  policy  of  a  country  organized  as 
ours  is,  and  cherishing  its  lofty  aspirations.     In 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  157 

almost  every  instance,  our  colleges  have  been  left 
dependant  upon  private  contributions,  and  the 
current  fees  for  tuition.  A  table  setting  forth  the 
entire  sums  in  money  or  property  received  by  our 
higher  institutions,  and  classifying  them  according 
as  they  have  proceeded  from  legislative  grants,  or 
private  bounty,  would  form  an  interesting  and 
valuable  contribution  to  our  literary  statistics; 
whilst  the  result  would  present  to  our  view  a  con- 
trast by  no  means  complimentary  to  legislative 
liberality.  And  if  there  were  appended  to  this  a 
list  of  the  munificent  donations  made  by  European 
governments  to  their  Colleges  and  Universities, 
there  is  an  equal  certainty  that  our  national  vanity 
would  not  be  flattered  by  the  comparison. 

But  it  is  when  we  contemplate  the  provisions 
made  professedly  for  the  universal  diffusion  of 
knctwledge,,  that  we  see  narrow  views,  grovelling 
aims,  and  inadequate  arrangements,  superlatively 
exhibited.  Every  annual  message  of  our  Govern- 
ors is  filled  with  lofty  encomiums  upon  the  value 
of  education,  making  sufficiently  distinct  acknow- 
ledgements of  the  necessity  of  general  intelligence 
for  the  "  safety  and  well  being  of  our  political 
institutions,"  and  recommending  liberal  appropria- 
tions by  the  legislatures ;  but  when  we  come  to 
scrutinize  the  practical  sequel  of  these  lofty  pro- 
fessions, we  must  prepare  our  minds  for  the  most 
mortifying  disappointments.  Truly,  the  ancient 
fable  of  the  mountain  and  the  mouse  involuntarily 
14 


158  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

obtrudes  itself  upon  the  mind,  when  we  are  told 
that  the  respective  governments  of  an  association 
of  aspiring  republics  consider  they  have  amply 
provided  for  a  splendid,  happy,  and  prosperous 
career,  by  having  set  afloat  a  scheme  of  educa- 
tion which  proposes  little  more  than  to  teach  the 
children  of  its  citizens  how  to  read  and  write ; 
but  our  surprise  is  heightened  by  a  survey  of  the 
means  relied  upon  for  furnishing  even  this  stinted 
allowance  of  that  intellectual  and  moral  training 
which  is,  by  acknowledgement,  so  vitally  neces- 
sary to  social,  no  less  than  to  personal  well  being. 
The  largest  sum  appropriated  by  any  of  the  states, 
exceeds,  but  little,  one  dollar  a  year  for  every 
child  ;  and  even  this  appropriation  is  made  in  such 
a  way  as  is  calculated  to  induce  the  people  to  rely 
upon  it  as  sufficient  to  defray  the  entire  cost  of 
the  tuition  of  their  children. 

The  unavoidable  effects  of  such  inadequate 
allowances  must  be,  that  the  schools  will  be  kept 
open  but  a  small  portion  of  the  year,  that  the 
teachers  will  be  oppressed  by  too  great  a  number 
of  pupils,  and  that  none  but  the  most  incompetent 
persons  will  be  willing  to  engage  at  all  in  the  bu- 
siness of  instruction,  for  no  others  will  consent  to 
work  for  the  pittance  of  remuneration  that  is 
offered.  And  such,  it  is  generally  admitted  in 
Connecticut,  has  been  the  operation  of  their  fund. 

But  even  the  ingenious,  and  deservedly  praised 
system  of  New- York  is  scarcely  less  liable  to  the 


OF  NATIONAI.  EDUCATION.  159 

charge  of  pecuniary  incomp>etency.  In  attempt- 
ing to  establish  this  position,  I  adopt  most  cheer- 
fully as  the  standard  of  my  views,  and  the  crite- 
rion for  my  reasoning,  the  statement  of  one  of  her 
own  distinguished  citizens,  John  Duer,  Esq.  as  to 
what  would  constitute  an  adequate  appropriation 
for  the  support  of  common  schools. — "I  would 
recommend,  (he  says,)  that  each  state  should  raise 
a  school  fund,  sufficient  for  the  entire  support  of 
schools;  that  a  suitable  school-house  and  appara- 
tus with  a  convenient  dwelling-house  for  the 
teacher,  be  furnished  by  the  State,  for  each  district ; 
and  that  every  shool-house  be  supplied  with  a  well 
qualified  teacher,  who  shall  receive  from  the  State 
a  suitable  compensation.  This,  I  think,  is  the  pro- 
per size  of  a  school  fund." 

The  only  point  in  which  I  should  be  tempted 
to  dissent  from  the  views  expressed  in  this  quota- 
tion, relates  to  the  proposed  dependence  upon  a 
fund.  I  confess  I  am  afraid  of  this.  It  is  an  im- 
portant fact,  fully  established  by  experience,  that 
just  in  proportion  as  the  people  are  apparently 
relieved  from  defraying  the  expense  of  education, 
will  their  estimation  of  its  worth  be  lowered,  and 
their  interest  in  the  neighbourhood  school  dimin- 
ished. Hence  the  more  direct  and  responsible  the 
connexion  between  the  teacher  and  his  employ- 
ers the  better ;  and  hence  also  it  is  expedient  to 
leave  the  contribution  and  application  of  means, 
for  the  roost  part,  in  the  hands  of  the  people. 


160  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES   OF  A   SYSTEM 

The  primary  object  of  a  fund  is  not  to  relieve 
the  people  from  the  cost  of  education,  nor  even 
to  aid  them  in  defraying  it ;  but  simply  to  induce 
them  to  impose  a  tax,  and  a  sufficient  tax,  on  pro- 
perty. The  legislature,  beyond  a  doubt,  possesses 
the  right  to  impose  this  tax  itself;  but  as  its  exer- 
cise would  do  no  good  where  the  people  are  un- 
willing, it  has  been  driven  to  the  expedient  of  a 
conditional  appropriation  of  the  j)roceeds  of  a 
fund,  for  the  simple  purpose  of  overcoming  popular 
indifference  ;  and  it  is  truly  surprising  how  small 
an  appropriation  will  effect  this  object.  The 
apparently  large  fund  of  New- York  has  never 
afforded  over  twenty-Jive  cents  to  every  child  of  a 
schooling  age ;  and  yet  she  has  managed,  by 
means  of  this  small  sum,  to  make  the  people 
raise  enough,  by  voluntary  taxation  and  otherwise, 
to  send  to  school  every  child  (within  a  trifling 
fraction,)  of  the  legal  age. 

This  exhibits  the  true  theory  of  a  school  fund  ; 
and  more  than  this  a  legislature  is  not  able  to  do. 
It  owns  no  independent  fund,  from  which  to  pro- 
vide for  education  as  a  charity.  "  No  matter, 
therefore,  how  the  operation  may  be  cloaked  in 
mystery,"  all  money  appropriated  by  the  legisla- 
ture is  the  fruit  of  taxation,  and  comes  originally 
from  the  people.  All  common  school  systems 
presuppose  the  ability  of  the  people  to  maintain 
them.  If  they  are  not  able,  the  legislature  has  no 
extrat  means  from  which  to  aid  them.    It  cannot 


OF    NATION Ali    EDUCATION.  161 

even  procure  the  services  of  teachers  on  terms 
materially  lower  than  they  themselves  can.  The 
only  advantage  w^hich  it  has  in  this  respect  is  in 
its  credit.  But  this  can  operate  only  as  a  guar- 
antee, and  not  as  a  substitute,  for  the  payment  of 
salaries.  If,  therefore,  the  people  have  to  defray 
the  entire  cost  of  schools,  it  is  better  to  let  them 
feel  it ;  that  according  to  an  obvious  principle, 
they  may  attach  a  higher  value  to  education.  Let 
the  money  be  conveyed  directly,  and  by  them- 
selves, from  their  own  pockets  to  the  teachers 
who  receive  it.  Thus,  the  parents,  and  the  in- 
structer,  being  often  brought  in  contact,  will  ac- 
quire, the  one  a  lively  interest  in  the  school  and  a 
disposition  to  co-operate  in  promoting  its  welfare, 
whilst  the  other  will  be  brought  under  the  con- 
stant influence  of  a  quickened  sense  of  responsi- 
bility. 

But  this  is  nothing  to  my  present  purpose.  My 
only  concern,  just  now,  is  with  the  amount  asserted 
to  be  requisite  in  order  to  put  and  keep  in  opera- 
tion a  competent  school  system  ;  and  with  the 
viewsof  Mr.  Dueron  this  subject,  I  most  cordially 
and  fully  acquiesce.  They  are  marked  by  any 
thing  but  extravagance.  A  moment's  analysis  will 
convince  us  of  this  fact.  WJiat,  let  us  ask,  are 
the  essential  elements  of  a  school  ?  It  is  evident 
that  besides  scholars,  there  must  be, first,  a  teacher; 
second,  a  school-house,  with  suitable  furniture ;  and 
third,  apparatus,  or  appropriate  instruments  of  in- 
14* 


162  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A   SYSTEM 

struction.  These  are  indispensable.  Less  could 
not  be  demanded,  and  this  is  the  sum  of  the  requisi- 
tion made  by  Mr.  Duer. 

But  when  we  come  to  make  an  estimate  of  the 
cost  of  executing  these  reasonable  demands,  we 
shall  see  at  once,  that  it  amounts  to  a  sum  too  far 
above  what  is  now  allowed  by  the  people  to  admit 
the  hope,  that  the  legislature  dare  venture  to  ap- 
propriate it,  at  least  for  a  very  long  time  to  come, 
and  before  a  radical  change  shall  have  been 
wrought  in  the  popular  sentiment  as  to  the  relative 
value  of  education  and  money. 

In  1834  there  were  in  New- York,  ten  thousand 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two  organized  school  dis- 
tricts ;  and  consequently,  this  number  of  teachers, 
and  of  school  and  teachers'  houses  would  be 
needed.  Now,  supposing  each  dwelling  house  to 
cost  three  hundred  dollars ;  each  school-house  the 
same  ;  apparatus  for  each  school  one  hundred 
dollars ;  we  shall  have  the  materials  for  the  fol- 
lowing table,  exhibiting  the  cajntal  necessary  to 
be  at  once  invested,  in  order  to  provide  accom- 
modations for  the  existing  schools,  viz  : 

School -houses,  10,132  x  300  =  3,039,600 
Dwelling  do.  10,132  x  300  =  3,039,600 
Apparatus,  10,132  x  100  =  1,013,200 


Total  of  capital,      $7,092,400 
Besides  these  permanent  investments,  there  are 


'        '  OF   NATIONAL   EDUCATION.  1 63 

current  annual  expenses  which  should  amount  to 
nearly  half  this  sum.     For  instance,  not  to  say 
anything  about  the  cost  of  repairs  which  must  be 
very  considerable,  the  wages  of  teachers  alone, 
es  imating  the  salary  of  each  at  three  hundred 
dollars,  would  be  —  10,132  x  300  =  3,039,600  ! ! 
And  will  any  one  say  that  three  hundred  dollars 
is  too  much  to  allow  for  the  services  of  a  good 
schoolmaster  ?     One  thing  is  certain,  they  cannot 
be  procured  for  less.     No  man  is  fit  to  teach 
school,  unless  he  have  been  professionally  educa- 
cated,  either  by  himself,  (as  most  of  our  good 
teachers  have  been,)  or  by  others,  for  the  business. 
And  can  it  be  imagined  that  a  professional  man, 
having   incurred   the  expenses  of  a   profiessional 
education,  will  spend  his  time  in  a  laborious  em- 
ployment for  less  than  three  hundred  dollars,  or 
even  for  so  small  a  sum  as  this  ?  Would  a  lawyer  or 
a  doctor  do  it ;  especially  where  a  maximum  of 
pay  is  fixed  ?     Can  teachers  do  with  less  ?     It  is 
impossible.     None  but  an  incompetent  drone,  or 
a  menial,  would  attempt  it.     Generally  speaking, 
the  man  who  would  consent  to  work  for  less  is 
not  worth  having.     His  services  would  be  dear 
at  three  hundred  cents  ;  for  the  irreparable  injury 
he  might  inflict  on  the  mind  defies  computation  in 
money.     If  it  be  impolitic  to  employ  a  cheap  en- 
gineer,  or  architect,  who,    through   professional 
incompetency  might  squander  in  the  space  of  a 
few  weeks  fifty  times  the  amount  of  his  salary  for 


164  ESS£NTIAI<  FEATURES   OP  A   SYSTEM 

a  year ;  surely  it  is  more  than  folly,  —  it  is  mad- 
ness, it  is  downright  cruelty,  to  jeopard  the  in- 
tellectual and  moral,  the  present,  and  it  may  be 
the  eternal  well  being  of  our  children,  by  subject- 
ing them  to  the  empiricism  of  cheap  teachers.  No ; 
we  want  for  this  sublime,  this  arduous  employment, 
a  good,  a  competent  man,  cost  what  he  may. 

This  is  the  sentiment  that  should  pervade  a  re- 
publican community.  This  is  the  feeling  that 
must  be  universal  before  we  can  attain  that  spe- 
cies of  education  which  is  essential  to  national 
safety,  not  to  sp3ak  of  what  is  requisite  to  secure 
those  large  and  enduring  ends  to  which  we  are 
aspiring.  But,  alas  !  the  contrast  between  the  ex- 
pedient and  the  actual !  Although  it  may  be  proved 
to  demonstration,  as  above,  that  supposing  the 
schools  to  be  taught  by  permanent  teachers,  (and 
no  others  can  acquire  the  experience  and  interest 
requisite  to  make  them  skilful ;)  and,  supposing 
these  teachers  to  have  families,  (and  any  other 
expectation  is  absurd,)  New- York  cannot  possibly 
provide  for  the  respectable  education  of  her  chil- 
dren, with  a  smaller  expenditure  than  something 
hke  three  millions  and  a  half  a  year ;  and  yet,  a 
very  few  years  since,  the  whole  amount  of  money 
paid  for  teachers'  wages,  by  the  people  of  New- 
York,  was  estimated  by  the  superintendent  at 
something  like  six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  or 
about  one  sixth  the  sum  proved  to  be  indispensa- 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  165 

bly  necessary  as  the  minimum  amount,  to  procure 
the  permanent  services  of  qualified  teachers. 

Now,  what  have  been  the  consequences  of  this 
inadequate  provision?  Let  history  answer,  and 
by  the  mouth  of  their  own  superintendent,  when 
he  appropriates  "  as  peculiarly  applicable  to  his 
own  state,"  the  language  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  Massachusetts,  who  declare  that  the 
system  of  education  as  now  supported  by  law, 
has  but  little  changed  with  all  the  astonishing 
changes  which  half  a  century  of  national  inde- 
pendence, of  vicissitude  from  poverty  and  priva- 
tion, to  public  and  private  prosperity,  wealth,  and 
luxury,  have  produced  ;"  or,  when  employing  his 
own  language  as  already  quoted,  he  affirms,  that 
"  The  miserable  economy  which  prevails  of  employ- 
ing cheap  teachers  without  reference  to  their  fit- 
ness, has  a  tendency  to  depress,  rather  than  to 
elevate  the  standard  of  education  in  our  common 
schools." 

I  flatter  myself,  enough  has  been  said  to  prove 
that  our  legislative  provisions  for  the  support  of 
education  have  been  any  thing  but  liberal ;  that 
they  have  been  measured  by  the  dictates  of  a 
false  economy,  and  have  been  altogether  insuffi- 
cient for  the  ends  proposed.  But  as  this  is  a  point 
of  so  much  practical  importance,  I  shall  pursue  it 
in  another  section.  Were  I  to  speak  of  other 
states  than  those  that  have  been  mentioned,  I 
might  state  the  fact,  that  it  was  once  the  fortune 


166  ESSEI^TIAL  FEATURES   OF  A   SYSTEM 

of  the  author  to  point  out  the  absurdity  of  a  school 
bill  which  had  been  printed  by  order,  and  was 
actually  pending  before  the  lower  house  of  one  of 
our  legislative  bodies,  by  an  arithmetical  demon- 
stration, that  it  proposed  to  bring  the  inestimable 
boon  of  education  within  the  reach  of  even  the 
poorest  and  the  stingiest,  by  reducing  the  price 
of  tuition  to  something  like  twelve  and  a  half  cents 
a  scholar  per  annum  ! 

I  was  informed,  however,  by  one  behind  the 
scenes,  that  there  was  concealed  beneath  this  bill 
an  electioneering  scheme,  to  be  played  off  on  the 
multitude  prior  to  the  next  elections  ;  and  hence, 
I  gather  another  reason  for  distrusting  an  exclu- 
sive reliance  on  legislative  efforts  in  behalf  of 
education.  If  (as  there  is  but  too  much  cause  to 
apprehend,)  the  spirit  of  legislation  shall  become 
so  prostituted  and  degraded,  that  this  sacred  topic 
shall  be  neglected,  or  attended  to,  as  may  subserve 
the  selfish  ends  of  office-seeking, office-keeping  lust, 
does  it  not  become  our  duty,  as  Christians  and  as 
citizens,  to  look  after  its  interests  ourselves  ;  to 
take  the  matter  into  our  own  hands ;  to  make  up 
our  minds  deliberately  and  intelligently  as  to  what 
had  best  be  done  ;  and  then,  instead  of  trusting 
longer  to  the  spontaneous  action  of  our  legislatures, 
speak  to  them  in  the  language  of  authoritative  in- 
struction, which  they  shall  not  seek  to  evade  nor 
disobey  ? 


OP  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  167 

S  E  C  T  I  O  N  V. 

(cONTINUaD.) 

Two  plans  by  which  the  diffusion  of  education  may  be  effected  .* 
—  the  first,  by  making  it  cheap;  the  second,  by  making  it 
good.  The  former,  which  is  the  expedient  generally  resorted 
to,  is  not  only  unwise,  but  works  its  own  defeat.  —  This  proved 
by  a  reference  to  the  theory  and  operation  of  our  best  and  oldest 
school  systems.  —  Separation  of  the  children  of  the  rich  and 
poor  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  excessive  cheapening  of 
education.  —  This  to  be  avoided  only  by  such  liberal  remunera- 
tion of  teachers  as  will  induce  men  of  talents  and  professional 
skill  to  engage  in  the  business.  —  Impolicy  of  employing  cheap 
teachers.  —  Belter  to  elevate  the  taste  of  the  people  than  lower 
the  price  of  tuition. 

There  are,  as  has  been  already  intimated,  two 
methods  that  may  be  resorted  to  for  the  purpose 
of  diffusing  education  through  a  community,  in 
choosing  between  which,  it  becomes  us  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  utmost  caution  and  dehberation. 
The  first  is,  to  put  the  price  of  tuition  so  low  that 
the  poorest  parent  can  afford  to  pay  it  ;  the 
second,  to  induce  the  people  to  set  so  high  a  value 
upon  education,  that  they  will  resolve  to  have  it, 
and  of  a  good  quality,  regardless  of  the  cost.  The 
former  regards  the  task  of  providing  for  the  cost 
of  public  instruction  as  being  almost  exclusively  a 
legislative  duty,  and  narrows  it  down  to  a  mere 
financial  operation ;  the  latter  contemplates  it  as 
a  social  concern,  and  looks  for  the  wisdom  and 
efficiency  of  measures  chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  to 
public  sentiment. 


168  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A   SYSTEM 

The  first  is  the  expedient  which  has  hitherto 
been  generally  adopted,  and  with  what  conse- 
quences, I  have  partially  pointed  out.  But  1  have, 
by  no  means,  done  with  the  subject.  It  may  be 
very  safely  admitted,  (though  there  is  good  reason 
to  doubt  even  this,)  that  upon  this  principle,  what 
is  commonly  called  education,  may  become  more 
widely  disseminated  ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  there 
is  not  ground  for  the  shadow  of  a  misgiving,  that 
its  diffusion  on  this  plan  induces  such  a  deteriora- 
tion of  its  quality  as  makes  it,  to  say  the  least,  a 
questionable  blessing.  It  were  a  very  doubtful, 
as  well  as  unavailing  charity,  to  divide  a  loaf  of 
spoiled  bread  among  a  thousand  starving  indi- 
viduals. 

This,  however,  is  not  all  ;  and  I  proceed  to 
show  respecting  it,  that  it  must  necessarily  fail  of 
attaining  one  of  the  noblest  ends  proposed  by  a 
system  of  national  education  ;  and  that,  with  re- 
ference to  this,  ii  works  its  own  defeat. 

Preparatory  to  this,  it  will  be  necessary  to  state 
the  theory  of  common  school  systems  in  those  of 
the  older  members  of  our  confederacy,  wliich 
were  the  foremost  to  establish  them.  In  these, 
the  right,  policy,  and  duty  of  legislative  provision 
for  the  support  of  popular  education,  have  from 
the  earliest  period  been  distinctly  and  practically 
asserted.  To  make  such  provision,  the  aggregate 
property  of  the  community  has  been  considered 
as  being  at  the  disposal  of  the  legislature  ;  and 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  169 

the  only  question  has  been,  how  the  public  re- 
sources could  be  best  employed  for  its  attainment. 

The  right  of  suffrage,  and  the  duty  of  fitting 
one's  self  for  the  judicious  use  of  it,  are  looked 
upon  as  reciprocal  and  dependent.  If  a  citizen, 
therefore,  have  the  means,  but  want  the  inclina- 
tion, the  authority  of  the  state  directly  or  indi- 
rectly compels  him  to  educate  his  children ;  whilst 
those  to  whom  the  means  are  wanting,  are  to  be 
provided  for  by  taxation  of  the  property  of  the 
rich.  In  short,  all  the  children  of  the  community 
are  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  state,  whilst  the 
entire  property  of  the  state,  as  of  a  common 
parent,  is  made  responsible  for  their  education ; 
and  the  object  is,  to  assemble  in  the  same  elemen.' 
tary  schools,  on  terms  of  perfect  equality,  all  the 
children  of  the  rich  and  poor ;  thus  to  place  in- 
discriminately within  the  reach  of  all,  knowledge, 
that  cardinal  element  of  power,  which  not  only 
checks  but  controls  all  others,  and  constitutes  the 
only  practicable  and  unexceptionable  leveller. 

These  are  the  principles,  and  this  the  aim  of 
the  common  school  systems  of  the  states  alluded 
to ;  but  nothing  is  easier  to  prove,  than  that  the 
expedient  now  under  consideration  tends  directly 
to  produce  in  schools  that  very  discrimination  of 
the  rich  and  poor,  which  it  has  been  a  primary 
aim  of  these  systems  to  prevent,  and  to  accelerate 
the  classification  of  the  membersof  society  accord- 
ing to  their  wealth. 

15 


170  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

My  appeal  is  to  experience,  in  support  of  this 
assertion.  Let  any  inquirer  travel  through  certain 
portions  of  New-England  where  experience  is 
ripest,  in  Connecticut  for  instance,  and  the  exist- 
ence of  this  tendency  will  be  made  known  to  him 
by  the  acknowledgement  and  complaint  of  every 
intelligent  citizen  he  may  meet  with.  The  reasons 
for  this  are  obvious.  Education,  in  the  free  schools, 
by  being  cheapened  in  price,  has  also  been  so  much 
cheapened  in  quality,  that  those  who  can  help 
themselves  will  not  accept  ot"  it  even  as  a  gra- 
tuity ;  and,  consequently,  they  provide  select  pri- 
vate schools  for  their  children,  in  which,  by  the 
payment  of  liberal  salaries,  they  engage  the  ser- 
vices of  men  of  talents  and  attainments. 

Nor  shall  we  be  surprised  at  this  result,  when 
we  reflect  that  it  has  followed  most  naturally 
upon  the  preposterous  attempt  to  put  intellectual 
and  manual  labour  upon  the  same  footing  as  to 
wages ;  and,  that  in  numerous  cases,  the  educa- 
tion of  young  patriots  in  the  school-house  is  ac- 
tually undertaken  for  less  pay  than  would  com- 
mand the  services  of  carmen  in  the  streets,  or 
knights  of  the  blacking  brush  in  the  hotels. 
v!  These  remarks,  however,  are  applicable  to  the 
lauded  public  schools  of  our  cities,  even  more 
emphatically  than  to  the  free  schools  scattered 
over  the  country.  These  are  any  thing  but  re- 
publican  in  their  character.  Two  very  simple 
questions  will  decide  this  point,  viz  :  do  the  alderr 
■'.I 


/I 


OP  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  171 

men  and  the  literary  men,  who  manage  and  be- 
praise  them,  send  their  children  to  these  schools? 
or,  on  the  contrary,  is  it  not,  for  the  most  part, 
the  children  of  the  poor,  or  of  the  stingy,  or  of 
those  who  do  not  set  a  proper  value  upon  real 
education,  by  whom  they  are  frequented  ?  They 
are  "excellent  schools,"  —  "first-rate  schools," — 
"  very  good  schools," —  {for  the  poor !) 

As  for  the  children  of  the  rich  and  the  aspir- 
ing, you  must  look  elsewhere  for  them,  than  in 
these  intellectual  receptacles  of  pauperism.  The 
wealthy  merchant,  and  the  high-minded  profes- 
sional man,  pay  most  cheerfully  their  proportion 
of  tax  towards  the  support  of  the  public  institu- 
tions ;  but  it  is  evident  they  regard  it  either  in 
the  light  of  a  benevolent  contribution,  or  as  a 
matter  of  social  expediency  ;  for  instead  of  avail- 
ing themselves,  as  they  might,  of  the  opportunity 
thus  created  for  the  economical  education  of 
their  children,  in  these  "  excellent  schools,"  they 
send  them  to  "  select "  private  schools,  conducted 
by  highly  qualified  instructors,  who  have  but  a 
few  pupils,  for  each  of  whom  they  receive  from 
fifty  to  a  hundred  dollars  a  year  tuition. 

It  is  a  fact  full  of  instruction,  and  warning,  that 
in  most,  if  not  in  all  our  cities  where  public 
schools  have  been  established,  from  two  to  four 
times  the  amount  is  paid  to  private  teachers  for 
the  instruction  of  a  few,  that  is  levied  upon  prop- 


172  ESSENTIAL  PEATnUES  OF   A  SYSTEM 

erty,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  public  seminaries 
where  the  many  are  instructed. 

By  the  eighteenth  annual  report  of  the  control- 
lers of  public  schools  of  the  city  and  county  of 
Philadelphia,  there  were  gathered  into  these 
schools  somewhat  over  13,000  children,  for  whose 
tuition  were  paid  about  $40,000  ;  or,  not  quite 
four  dollars  a  scholar  !  Now  I  am  sure,  I  hazard 
nothing  by  asserting,  in  the  absence  of  positive 
information,  that  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to 
find  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  one-thirteenth  of 
this  number  of  children,  for  whose  instruction  a 
much  larger  sum  is  annually  paid. 

In  the  public  schools  in  the  city  of  Louisville, 
there  were  by  the  report  of  1835,  seven  hundred 
and  twenty  children,  taught  by  eight  teachers, 
whose  aggregate  wages  amounted  to  $5,700,  ma- 
king the  annual  cost  of  instruction,  for  each  pu- 
pil, something  under  $8.  And  yet,  I  know  that 
two  schools  alone,  out  of  a  number  on  the  inde- 
pendent basis,  could  have  been  pointed  out,  in 
which,  fifty  boys,  most  of  them  quite  small,  paid 
within  a  trifle  of  this  sum. 

In  the  public  schools  of  the  city  of  New- York, 
(the  year  before  last  if  I  mistake  not,)  there  were 
instructed  14,105  children  at  an  expense  of  some- 
thing like  $90,000  ;  or,  less  than  $6  50  a  scholar ; 
whilst  1,500  at  $60,  or  1125  at  $80,  or  only  900  at 
$100,  (which  are  by  no  means  uncommon  prices,) 
would  pay  as  much  ! 


«  I  .  OK  NATIONAI.  EDUCATION.  .  173 

Now  surely  this  inequality  must  be  wrong  on 
one  side  or  the  other.  If  the  allowance  of  $60, 
$80,  or  $100,  a  year  for  tuition,  is  not  the  con- 
summation of  extravagance,  where  shall  we  find 
terms  to  express  our  ideas  of  that  mistaken  econ- 
omy, which  reduces  the  price  of  tuition  to  $8,  as 
in  Louisville,  or  to  $4,  as  in  Philadelphia,  or  to 
$6  50,  as  in  the  city  of  New- York,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing  the  advantages  of  education  with- 
in the  reach  of  the  mass  of  the  children  in  society  ? 

The  higher  price  is  voluntarily  paid,  that  the 
parent  may  secure  to  his  child  the  services  of  a 
superior  teacher,  who  shall  bind  himself  to  attend 
to  a  small  number  of  pupils.  But  if  these  condi- 
tions are  requisite  for  good  instruction,  (which  is 
certainly  as  desirable  for  the  many,  as  for  the 
few,)  it  is  impossible  that  a  teacher  can  attain 
this  end,  no  matter  what  his  qualifications,  when 
overburdened  with  fifty,  eighty,  and  sometimes 
even  a  hundred  pupils.  Supposing  the  teachers 
to  be  on  a  perfect  equality  as  to  professional  qual- 
ifications, (which,  however,  would  contradict  a 
settled  principle  in  political  economy.)  there  still 
must  be  a  vast  difference  in  the  results,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  difference  of  attention  which  each 
pupil  can  receive.  Education,  in  the  private 
schools,  cannot  fail  of  being  superior  to  that  re- 
ceived in  the  public  schools  ;  and  when  we  recol- 
lect that  "knowledge  is  power,"  and  that  mind 
will  govern,  what  possible  cause  can  produce  so 
15* 


174  ESSENTIAIi    FEATURES    OF    A    SYSTEM 

marked  discriminations  in  society,  as  that,  on 
which  we  theoretically  rely  for  breaking  down 
or  neutralizing  the  most  stubborn  of  distinctions  t 

The  only  possible  way  in  which  this  separation 
of  the  children  of  the  rich  and  poor,  and  the  exist- 
ence of  two  sets  of  schools,  Plebeian  and  Patrician, 
can  be  prevented,  is  to  make  the  public  schools 
such  as  will  satisfy  the  rich  ;  in  short,  the  best  that 
can  be  had.  To  accomplish  this,  it  is  indispensa- 
ble that  it  be  made  the  interest  of  men  of  talents 
to  fit  themselves  for  the  business  of  instruction  as 
4heir  profession  ;  and  there  is  but  one  conceivable 
way  in  which  this  can  be  done,  viz :  by  allowing 
a  liberal  remuneration  for  their  services.  It  is  a 
law,  admitting  as  few  exceptions  as  any  other, 
that  labour  always  tends  to  the  highest  wages ; 
and  that  the  quality  of  the  workman  and  conse- 
quently of  the  work,  bears  a  direct  relation  to  the 
magnitude  of  the  pay.  Men  will  not  work  for 
nothing  ;  and  teachers  surrounding  themselves 
with  families,  have  no  right  to  do  so,  more  than 
other  classes  of  men.  The  following  language  of 
the  Christian  Examiner,  used  originally  with 
reference  to  a  different,  but  kindred  profession,  is 
peculiarly  applicable  to  that  of  instruction. 

"  Public  opinion  has  pressed  upon  members  of 
this  profession  in  such  a  manner  that  many  have 
lost  in  a  measure  the  sense  of  duty  which  they 
owe  their  social  relations.  No  impression  is  more 
common,  than  that  if  they  can  be  barely  supported, 


KST^F  NATIONAL   EDUCATION.  175 

it  is  all  they  have  any  reason  or  right  to  expect. 
That  is  to  say  —  ail  idea  of  acquiring  property 
from  their  calling  is  with  most  of  them  out  of  the 
question  from  the  very  first.  If  the  annual  salary 
pay  the  expenses  of  the  year,  they  are  to  be  con- 
tent. Now  this  way  of  thinking  is  utterly  w^rong 
in  conscience  and  in  duty.  A  man  has  no  right 
to  surround  himself  with  a  class  of  beings  entirely 
dependent  upon  the  thread  of  his  life,  not  to  say 
these  are  his  children,  beings  dearer  to  him  than 
life,  and  whom  every  law  of  God  and  nature  give 
a  most  absolute  claim  upon  him  —  he  would  have 
no  right  to  take  beggars  from  the  hedge,  and  treat 
them  so." 

I  dwell  upon  this  subject  because  of  its  funda- 
mental importance.  Society  may  blame  itself, 
its  own  false  notions  of  economy,  for  the  defective 
education  under  which  it  groans.  That  it  is  im- 
perfect, none  pretend  to  deny ;  but,  even  were  it 
more  so,  the  community  would  still  receive  a  full 
equivalent  for  the  pitiful  remuneration  begrudged 
to  its  conductors.  The  only  proper  cause  for 
wonder  is,  that  it  is  so  good.  Instructers  of  youth 
feel  that  talents  and  professional  skill  are  property, 
for  which,  when  used  for  others'  benefit,  they 
deserve  to  be  paid,  —  and  in  doing  so,  they  but 
think  and  feel  as  human  beings.  Good  education, 
like  all  other  valuable  products  of  human  industry, 
has  its  natural  price,  which  is  fixed  by  uncon- 
trollable principles  ;  and  the  only  alternative  with 


176  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OP  A  SYSTEM 

a  community,  whether  acting  directly,  or  through 
its  legislative  representatives,  is,  to  have  it  on 
these  terms,  or  not  at  all.  Nothing  is  clearer 
than  that  there  exists  a  general  wish  to  have  it 
below  its  natural  cost ;  and  society  itself  needs  to 
be  informed  in  the  plainest  terms  of  the  futility  of 
all  such  expectations ;  for  legislation,  more  than  any 
other  immediate  cause,  has  contributed  to  the  ex- 
istence of  wrong  impressions  and  practice  on  thia 
subject,  and  cannot  be  expected  to  apply  the  cor- 
rective to  evils  which  it  perseveringly  upholds. 

I  confess,  my  hopes  for  the  improvement  of 
education,  bear  an  exact  proportion  to  the  advance 
in  the  prices  of  tuition.  The  mercurial  fluid  is 
not  more  obedient  to  variations  of  atmospheric 
temperature.  That  there  exists  a  favourable  ten- 
dency in  this  respect,  I  firmly  believe  ;  and  I  hail 
with  joy  every  indication  of  its  progress  as  a  most 
auspicious  omen  of  better  things.  To  this  I  fondly 
trust  for  the  rapid  intellectual  advancement,  at  no 
distant  day,  of  the  south  and  south-west  portions 
of  our  Union.  Possessing  in  profusion  the  means 
of  education,  and  inclined  not  merely  to  a  liberal, 
but  a  prodigal  expenditure  to  gratify  their  wishes, 
they  have  only  to  learn  the  best  method  of  employ- 
ing it  for  the  attainment  of  real  happiness,  both 
personal  and  social ;  and  the  moral  power  of 
money,  when  judiciously  applied,  will  soon  re- 
ceive from  them  a  new  and  striking  illustration. 

Kentucky,  for  example,  were  she  only  aware  of 


V       OF  NATIONAL  education.':<^=.:t  177 

her  advantages  in  this  respect,  (and  her  recent 
movements  show  that  she  will  not  always  remain 
bhnd  to  her  best  interests,)  might,  in  the  language 
of  one  of  the  ripest  scholars  of  New-England 
respecting  her,  "  at  no  distant  period  boast  of  the 
most  enlightened  population  in  the  new  world  ; 
and  have  her  example  looked  up  to  with  respect 
and  deference  not  only  by  the  states  beyond  the 
Allegany,  but  by  all  who  border  on  the  Atlantic 
Ocean."  In  New- York,  and  throughout  New- 
England  generally,  the  prices  of  tuition,  (I  refer 
to  the  free  schools,)  must  advance  at  least  four- 
fold, before  they  shall  have  reached  their  natural 
height ;  and  many,  many  years  I  fear  will  have 
elapsed,  before  the  minds  of  the  people  can  be  so 
far  liberalized,  and  enlightened,  as  to  make  them 
willing  that  the  cost  of  education  shall  be  quadru- 
pled upon  them.  "  » 
In  Kentucky,  on  the  contrary,  the  general  prac- 
tice, and  still  more  the  popular  sentiment,  is  fully 
up  to  the  demands  of  the  natural  law  upon  this 
subject.  I  should  not  greatly  err,  were  I  to  say  that 
the  average  price  of  tuition  throughout  the  state 
does  not  vary  much  from  ten  dollars  a  year,  a  pupil. 
At  this  rate,  it  is  only  requisite  to  assemble  forty 
scholars  in  a  school,  and  a  salary  of  four  hundred 
dollars  is  provided  for  the  teachers  of  common 
schools ;  a  sum  which  is  not  unfrequently  ac- 
cepted in  New-England,  by  college  graduates, 
who  obtain  situations  in  academies.     Certainly, 


178  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES   OP  A   SYSTEM 

then,  I  do  not  overrate  the  advantages  which  may 
be  enjoyed  by  Kentucky  in  this  respect,  (if  she 
will  only  be  wise  enough  to  use  them,)  since  the 
customary  rates  of  tuition  are  such  as  may  engage 
in  the  instruction  of  her  ABC  scholars  a  grade 
of  talent,  which  at  the  north  is  employed  in 
fitting  young  men  for  college. 

All  that  is  wanting  in  Kentucky,  is,  that  all  the 
people  he  induced  to  send  their  children  to  school. 
The  rates  of  tuition  are  reasonably  high  at  pre- 
sent, and  are  decidedly  advancing.  Twelve, 
sixteen,  and  even  twenty  dollars  are  not  at  all 
uncommon  prices  in  country  schools  where  the 
studies  rise  above  the  ordinary  branches.  Only 
let  her  Legislature  then  devise  some  measures  by 
which  to  induce  a  general  attendance  at  school 
of  the  children  of  the  State,  without  a  material 
diminution  of  these  rates  of  tuition,  and  Kentucky 
may  win  the  enviable  distinction  of  having  the 
best  public  school  system  in  the  Union. 
i"  The  almost  unprecedented  liberality  of  the  city 
of  Louisville,  in  this  respect,  deserves  to  be  univer- 
sally known,  that  she  may  attract  to  herself  that 
competition  of  superior  teachers  which  her  con- 
duct richly  merits.  A  city  that  within  two  years 
will  advance  the  prices  of  tuition  as  she  did, 
from  forty  dollars  as  a  maximum,  almost  to 
forty  dollars,  as  a  minimum  ;  making  fifty,  sixty, 
eighty,  and  a  hundred  dollars  common  prices,  de- 
serves, as  she  cannot  fail  in  time  to  enjoy,  the  ser- 


^.x.OP.ItATJONAL  EDUCATION.  179 

Vices  oif  the  very  best  teachers  in  the  land.  Such 
hberality  would  soon  create  good  teachers  in  any 
numbers  if  they  did  not  already  exist;  even  attract- 
ing talent  from  the  crowded  professions  of  law  and 
medicine. 

The  true  and  fundamental  reason  why  the  bu- 
siness of  teaching  is  in  so  degraded  a  condition, 
is,  that  it  is  so  badly  paid.  Only  let  it  be  put 
upon  a  proper  footing  in  this  particular,  and  it  will 
be  one  of  the  most  inviting  employments  in  the 
world.  No  wonder  it  is  in  disrepute,  when  so- 
ciety suffers,  or  rather  constrains  it  to  be  in  such 
a  condition  that  it  scarcely  suggests  any  other 
ideas  to  the  mind  of  the  aspiring  youth  when 
meditating  what  profession  he  shall  follow,  than 
those  of  starvation,  drudgery,  and  disgrace.  Let 
it  however  become  appreciated  and  rewarded  as 
it  should  be  ;  let  society  be  brought  to  feel  that  its 
amusements,  dress,  any  thing,  and  every  thing,  in 
short,  must  be  selected  as  the  objects  of  econo- 
mical retrenchment,  sooner  than  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  their  offspring,  and  it  will  not  be  long 
before  we  shall  see  colleges  for  educating  teach- 
ers springing  up  in  every  state,  and  crowds  of 
talented  competitors  pressing  forward  to  an  em^ 
ployment,  which,  I  repeat  with  equal  sincerity 
and  emphasis  is,  under  chosen  circumstances,  one 
of  the  most  dignified,  useful,  and  delightful  upon 
earth. 

Only  let  the  skeptical  on  this  point  think  of  the 


180  ESSENTIAL  FEATITRES  OP  A  SYSTEM 

real  position  which  the  teacher  occupies ;  that  to 
him  are  delegated  all  the  fascinating  duties  of 
parental  love  ;  that  he  becomes  an  auxiliary  in 
the  animating  task  of  training  the  immortal  spirit 
for  usefulness  on  earth,  and  happiness  in  Heaven  ; 
let  him  remember,  that  his  business  is  exclusively 
with  mind,  with  the  affections  as  well  as  with  the 
understanding ;  let  him  consider,  too,  that  the  in- 
structer  of  youth  has  more  leisure  by  far  than  any 
other  calling  affords ;  that  he  has  generally  one-i 
twelfth,  if  not  one-sixth,  of  the  entire  year,  vaca^ 
tion  ;  that  of  the  remainder,  two-sevenths,  or  two* 
whole  days  in  each  week  are  devoted  to  rest ;  and 
that  even  on  the  five  school  days  he  is  not  em- 
ployed professionally  more  than  one-half  the  hours 
of  daylight ;  let  him,  I  say,  give  due  weight  to 
these  considerations,  and  he  will  be  prepared  to 
acquiesce  in  the  assertion,  that  the  only  rea;son 
why  the  employment  of  the  schoolmaster  is  con- 
sidered irksome  is,  that  society  does  not  render  a 
proper  compensation  for  his  services ;  that  he 
himself  has  not  right  conceptions  of  its  nature,  its 
pleasures,  and  its  duties ;  and  above  all,  because 
he  does  not  fit  himself  by  a  deliberate,  thorough, 
professional  education,  for  an  easy,  pleasant,  and 
productive  performance  of  its  various  offices. 

1  cannot  fancy  to  myself  a  more  inviting  and 
endearing  relation,  than  that  which  the  qualified 
instructer  has  it  in  his  power  to  establish  with  their 
families,  as  well  as  with  the  children  themselves 


K-TT  «P   NATIONAL    EDUCATION.  181 

committed  to  his  charge.  He  may  become  the  inti- 
mate, the  confidential,  friend  of  each  ;  identifying 
himself  with  their  dearests  interests.  Almost  for- 
getting that  his  pupils  have  any  other  parents,  he 
may  get  to  look  upon  them  as  his  own.  He  may 
share  their  sports,  sympathize  with  their  little 
troubles,  lighten  their  labour  by  judicious  help, 
exult  in  their  manifestations  of  expanding  intellect, 
be  cheered  by  their  smiles,  animated  by  their  love, 
live  in  their  earthly  hopes,  and  be  thrilled  with  the 
transporting  anticipation  of  witnessing  in  a  better 
world  the  ceaseless  progress  of  that  education 
which  he  had  commenced  in  this. 

I  envy  not  that  teacher  his  conceptions,  and  his 
feelings,  in  relation  to  his  office,  who  can  coldly 
call  this  fiction.  I  covet  not  his  experience,  if  he 
have  not  tasted  sufficiently  of  the  delights  pour- 
trayed,  to  induce  him  to  believe,  that  under  better 
auspices,  the  whole  may  yet  be  realized. 

And  is  it  not  the  interest  of  society,  (to  say 
nothing  of  duty  to  their  children,)  to  provide  men 
capable  of  appreciating  this  relation,  and  every 
way  equal  to  the  refined  and  noble  labours  it 
enjoins  ?  If  so,  let  it  be  carefully  borne  in  mind, 
there  is  but  one  way  of  effecting  it — they  must 
first  educate,  and  then  maintain  them. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  select  a  case  in  which 

the  law  —  "  like  produces  like,"  —  is  more  exactly 

verified,  than  in  the  work  of  education.     As  is  the 

teacher,  so  of  necessity  almost  will  be  the  scholar^ 

16 


i8S     ESSBNTIAL  FEA.TURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

and  if  it  be  true  that  as  is  the  pay,  so  is  the  teacher, 
it  surely  is  unwise,  if  not  unkind,  to  entail  upon  our 
children  the  curse  of  miseducation,  (an  evil  that 
admits  no  remedy,)  in  obedience  to  the  dictates  of 
a  false  economy.  A  Roman  sage  was  once  re- 
quested by  a  rich  but  parsimonious  citizen,  to 
state  the  price  for  which  he  would  educate  his 
son.  "  For  so  much,"  was  the  answer.  "  I  could 
buy  a  slave  to  teach  him  for  that,"  replied  the 
father.  "  Do  so,"  said  the  philosopher,  "  and  you 
will  have  two." 

Were  further  testimony  wanted  to  support  the 
doctrine  I  am  maintaining,  I  might  refer  to  the 
instructive  experience  of  the  eastern  states. 

Look  for  instance  at  the  schools  of  Boston,  the 
pride  of  that  literary  capital.  At  the  head  of  these 
institutions,  public  and  private,  you  will  find  gen- 
tlemen of  the  first  respectability  for  talents  and 
acquirements  ;  almost  without  exception,  college 
graduates  ;  some  of  whom  have  even  abandoned 
the  professions  of  medicine  and  law,  for  that  of 
teaching.  And  why  ?  The  answer  is  obvious. 
Because  it  was  made  their  interest.  The  salaries 
of  those  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  city,  vary  from 
eight  to  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  per  annum  ; 
whilst  many  of  the  proprietors  of  private  schools, 
receive  eighty  and  one  hundred  dollars  a  year  for 
tuition,  from  each  of  eighty,  one  hundred,  and  in 
some  cases  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pupils. 

Contrast  with  this  the  state  of  things  in  Connec- 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  183 

ticut,  where,  about  the  time  of  thanksgiving,  the 
roads  will  be  lined  with  young  cultivators  of  the 
soil,  who  not  being  able  to  find,  in  winter,  employ- 
ment for  their  hands,  itinerate  the  country,  vend- 
ing the  services  of  their  heads  to  the  highest  bidden 
and  accepting  of  salaries  of  from  eight  to  twenty 
dollars  a  month  ! 

In  the  one  case,  you  will  find  a  proud  and  hon- 
ourable satisfaction  with  their  schools.  In  the 
other,  universal  complaint,  societies  for  the  im- 
provement of  common  schools,  petitions  to  the 
legislature  for  reform,  a  dissatisfaction  with  the 
effects  of  their  fund  almost  amounting  to  a  wish 
for  its  annihilation,  a  drain  of  scholars  from  the 
public  to  the  private  schools,  and  the  aristocracy 
of  wealth,  fortifying  itself  by  becoming  an  aristoc- 
racy in  literature. 

These  representations,  so  far  from  operating 
against  the  interests  of  the  poor,  are  expressly 
designed  and  calculated  to  promote  them.  If  it 
be  true  that  "  knowledge  is  power,"  and  that  there 
is  a  dependent  connexion  between  liberal  salaries 
and  the  employment  of  talents,  —  and  between  the 
employment  of  talents  and  good  education,  whose 
fruit  is  knowledge,  —  how,  I  would  ask,  can  the 
unsuspected  ascendency  of  the  rich  be  more  effec- 
tually secured,  than  by  putting  off  the  poor  in 
means,  with  the  present  of  a  poor  education  ?  Only 
allow  the  rich,  (no  matter  under  what  pretext; 
whether  of  philanthrophy,  or  patriotism,  or  of  inte- 


184  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A   SYSTEM 

rest,)  to  prescribe  the  education  of  the  poor,  and 
they  prescribe  their  condition  and  relative  impor- 
tance. If  any  thing  be  anti-republican,  it  certainly 
is  sOjdirectly  or  indirectly,  to  maintain  that  although 
a  hundred  dollars  a  year  is  not  too  much  to  be 
expended  for  the  mental  improvement  of  the  son 
of  the  wealthy  merchant,  lawyer,  and  physician  ; 
a  two  or  three  dollar  education,  (the  estimated 
cost  of  public  school  instruction  at  the  east,  is  quite 
sufficient  for  the  children  of  the  poor,  or  rather 
for  the  mass  of  our  fellow-citizens. 

I  think  it  perfectly  manifest,  therefore,  that  if 
the  aggregate  property  of  the  community  is  so  far 
a  common  fund,  that  it  is  responsible  for  the  in- 
struction of  all  its  children  ;  then  it  is  peculiarly 
the  interest  of  the  poor,  that  the  education  imparted 
should  be  of  the  very  best  character ;  for  if  a 
liberal  expenditure  of  funds  be  necessary  to  secure 
it,  it  is  not  from  them,  but  from  the  property  and 
property  holders  of  the  country,  that  these  funds 
must  be  obtained.. 

It  were  a  sufficient  objection  to  the  pseudo- 
economic  scheme  that  it  helps  the  rich  as  well  as 
the  poor.  But  it  does  far  more  than  this ;  for 
while  it  tends  materially  to  the  pecunimy  relief 
of  the  rich,  it  operates  essentially  to  the  moral 
injury  of  the  poor,  by  lessening  the  value  of  the 
education  provided  for  their  children,  designating 
them  as  a  class,  and  ensuring  permanently  their 
relative  inferiority,  by  debarring  them  the  benefits 


OF    NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  185 

of  that  liberal  mental  culture  which  alone  can 
enable  them  to  rise  superior  to  their  condition. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  a  common  school  system 
be  adopted,  in  which  a  large  amount  of  money 
accruing  from  taxation  is  expended  indiscrimi- 
nately for  the  benefit  of  all,  it  is  obvious,  that  while 
the  intellectual  and  moral  fruits  are  far  more  val- 
uable, the  burden  of  expense  falls  chiefly  on  the 
rich.  And  so  it  should.  They  have  a  pecuniary 
interest  in  the  prevalence  of  good  morals  and  in- 
telligence in  society  which  causes  them  to  receive 
in  indirect  returns,  more  than  an  equivalent  for 
all  the  money  they  expend  to  promote  the  cause  of 
education.  They  are  not  benefactors  ;  nor  should 
the  poor  regard  themselves  as  beneficiaries  in  this 
case,  any  more  than  in  the  application  of  these 
principles  to  provide  for  the  civil  and  military 
expenses  of  the  government. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  insinuate  that  our  present 
schemes  of  popular  instruction  originated  in  so 
knavish  and  ignoble  a  purpose  ;  but  it  is  clear  that 
if  the  property  holders  of  the  country  had  desired 
to  devise  a  plan  by  which,  with  the  least  possible 
tax  upon  their  purses,  the  poor  should  be  made 
satisfied  with  the  semblance  of  education  ;  a  more 
ingenious  and  effectual  stratagem  could  not  have 
been  invented,  than  that  which  legislation  has  in- 
advertently furnished  to  their  hands.  There  is  a 
stubborn  relation  between  quality  and  price  which 
holds  of  education  as  of  every  thing  else.  Univer' 
16* 


186  ESSENTIAL   FEATURES   OF  A   SYSTEM 

sally,  workmanship  will  be  good  or  bad,  according 
to  the  remuneration  of  the  operatives.  And  since 
the  chief  cost  of  education  is  for  tuition,  and  as 
the  only  way  of  cheapening  this  is  to  reduce  the 
pay  of  teachers,  it  is  self-evident,  that  a  resort  ta 
this  expedient  must  raise  an  eft'ectual  bar  to  the 
employment  of  talents  ;  and  that  the  consequences 
will  be  visited  chiefly  upon  the  poor ;  for  the  chil- 
dren of  the  rich  will  instantly  take  refuge  in  the 
private  schools  conducted  by  masters  of  profes- 
sional ability^ 

I  no  less  confidently  believe,  that  to  enhance 
the  cost  of  education  so  as  to  bring  it  to  the  na- 
tural standard,  would  impose  no  material  hinder- 
ance  to  its  diff'usion.  On  the  contrary,  I  indulge 
the  strongest  hopes  that  its  tendency  would  be 
directly  the  reverse ;  and  that  the  most  effectual 
mode  of  securing  the  general  spread  of  education 
would  be,  to  elevate  its  standard  by  the  em-ploy- 
ment  of  none  but  teachers  of  superior  qualifications. 
Education,  at  their  hands,  would  soon  come  to  be 
regarded  as  a  token  of  distinction  which  every 
parent  would  covet  for  his  children.  In  times 
when  it  was  considered  an  honour  for  kings  and 
cardinals  to  read,  it  inflicted  no  disgrace  upon  a 
commoner  not  to  know  his  letters  ;  but  so  soon 
as  this  attainment  got  to  be  common  in  society, 
the  want  of  it  became,  in  the  highest  degree, 
disreputable,  and  then  every  body  learned  to 
read..    At  present,  in  many  parts  of  our  country. 


V  i't     OT  NATIONAL    EDTTCATrON.  187 

Ifie  fruits  of  education  are  so  indifferent,  as  ta 
excite  but  little  solicitude  for  their  enjoyment. 
When  a  year  or  two's  attendance  upon  school 
makes  a  man  write  so  indifferent  a  hand  that  he 
is  ashamed  to  attempt  the  drafting  a  receipt ;  and 
gives  him  so  slight  a  knowledge  of  arithmetic,, 
that  he  is  afraid  to  trust  himself  to  make  the  most 
ordinary  calculation  ;  we  need  not  be  surprised 
to  hear  the  illiterate  declare,  "they  do  not  see 
what  they  are  to  gain  by  sending  their  children 
to  school,  since  they  make  just  as  good  corn  and 
hay,  plough,  and  cut  wood,  just  as  well  without 
knowing  a  letter  in  the  book." 

There  is  no  room  to  wonder  that  the  people 
seem  indifferent  to  that,  whose  value  is  so  am- 
biguous, and  which  is  seen  to  confer  so  little  of 
honour  or  of  profit.  Under  existing  circumstan- 
ces, in  many  of  our  states,  the  difference  is  so 
trivial  between  the  man  who  has  spent  some  time 
at  school,  and  him  who  has  never  entered  one,  as 
to  excite  but  little  satisfaction  in  the  one^  or  un- 
easiness in  the  other.  But  only  let  the  advantages 
of  education  be  made  so  obvious,  (by  the  employ- 
ment of  able  teachers,)  that  intelligence  shall  be- 
come a  badge  of  honourable  distinction,  and  very 
soon  ignorance  will  be  regarded  as  a  mark  of  dis- 
grace, with  which  no  parent  who  can  help  it  will 
permit  his  children  to  be  branded. 

In  such  a  state  of  things,  the  only  question 
necessary  to  be  asked,  is,  are  the  people  generally 
able  to  educate  their  children  ?     And  to  this  it 


188  ESSENTIAL  FEATURES  OF  A  SYSTEM 

must  be  answered,  that  in  nine  cases  out  often, 
they  are,  if  they  can  only  be  induced  to  set  such 
a  value  upon  education  as  shall  make  them  wilhng, 
by  economizing  upon  furniture,  on  dress,  and  vari- 
ous superfluities,  to  provide  the  means  for  confer- 
ring its  inestimable  blessings  on  their  offspring. 
Of  our  ability,  as  a  nation,  to  educate  our  children, 
and  to  educate  them  well,  there  is  no  question. 
The  money  that  is  annually  squandered  upon 
vicious  pleasures  would  more  than  pay  the  differ- 
ence between  the  demands  of  good  and  bad  in- 
structers.  I  question  if  the  single  article  of  ardent 
spirits  did  not,  some  years  back,  cost  the  republic 
quite  as  large  a  sum  as  she  paid  in  tuition  fees  for 
all  her  children. 

It  can  then  never  be  too  much  regretted,  that 
in  providing  the  means  for  general  instruction,  the 
people  should  have  been  encouraged  to  depend 
on  legislative  aid  as  a  measure  of  relief ;  to  station 
themselves,  like  beggars,  at  the  door  of  their  own 
treasury,  uttering  the  incessant  cry  of  give,  give, 
as  though  they  were  the  merest  objects  of  charity, 
and  the  legislature  had  an  independent  fund  from 
which  to  dispense,  at  pleasure,  its  donations. 

Were  it  in  the  power  of  our  legislators  to  give 
pecuniary  relief  to  their  constituents,  there  might 
then  be  some  pretext  for  this  humiliating  depend- 
ence ;  but  they  cannot  afford  a  particle.  They 
can  give  the  people  nothing,  for  the  best  of  rea- 
sons ;   they  have  nothing  of  their  own  to  give. 

9  l!9lii  9I»:> 


OF  NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  189 

The  utmost  they  can  do  is  to  vote  away  the  peo- 
ple's contributions.  The  appropriations  which 
they  make  from  funds,  or  otherwise,  are  not  the 
less  taxation,  because  indirect.  Nor  can  they  re- 
duce the  natural  cost  of  education.  Instructers 
will  not  labour  for  less  than  a  support,  because 
paid  by  the  state  instead  of  the  parents  of  their 
pupils;  nor  will  it  take  less  lo  support  them  in 
this  case. 

We  are  forced  then,  irresistibly,  to  the  conclu- 
sion, that  if  we  would  enjoy  the  advantages  of 
genuine  education,  we  must  pay  its  price  ;  and 
that,  where  a  people  are  able  to  pay  this,  it  is  bet- 
ter to  elevate  their  taste,  than  to  lower  the  wages  of 
instruction.  I  most  firmly  believe  that  every  thing 
may  be*  achieved  by  inducing  the  people  to  set  a 
proper  estimate  upon  the  worth  of  education  ; 
and  that  little  or  nothing  can  be  done  without 
this.  Only  let  them  be  brought  to  appreciate  it  as 
they  ought,  and  they  will  not  only  be  willing,  but 
will  either  find,  or  by  economy  and  industry  will 
create  the  means  with  which  to  pay  for  it. 


SECTION   Vt. 


The  last  of  the  seven  propositions  laid  down  in 
the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  in  relation  to  the 
essential  features  of  a  national  system  of  education 


190  NATIONAL  EDUCATION. 

suited  to  the  United  States,  is,  that "  for  the  su- 
pervision  and  general  execution  of  its  plans,  it 
must  appoint  wise  and  energetic  superintendents." 
The  expediency  and  simplicity  of  such  an  ar- 
rangement are  so  obvious,  that  it  is  scarcely  ne- 
cessary to  enter  into  details,  either  for  the  sake  of 
illustration,  or  of  proof;  and  as  I  shall  have  to 
allude  to  it  again  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this 
volume,  I  pass  it  by  for  the  present. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


OP  THE   PRACTICABILITY  OF   NATIONAL  EDUCATION. 


SEC  TION   I, 

Proofs  of  the  practicability  of  such  a  system  of  national  education 
as  is  required  by  the  United  States.  I.  It  is  practicable,  be- 
cause it  is  the  will  of  God  that  every  human  being  should  re- 
ceive such  an  education  as  it  proposes.  2.  Because  every  child 
possesses  a  native  right  to  it.  3.  Because  the  great  obstacle 
to  its  execution  is,  not  the  want  of  ability,  but  popular  indiffer- 
ence, a  moral  hinderance  which  may  be  removed  by  the  force 
of  moral  causes.  4.  Because  its  practicability  is  assumed  by 
the  Christian  religion,  and  by  our  political  constitutions. 

If  the  reasoning  in  the  Second  Chapter  of  this 
volume  be  correct,  we  cannot  escape  the  convic- 
tion, that  the  American  people,  in  order  to  be 
prosperous  and  happy,  must  be  a  religious  people ; 
that  governments  such  as  ours,  are  safe  and  prac- 
ticable only  in  alliance  with  a  poptilar  morality 
emanating  solely  from  the  Bible  ;  and  that  the 
general  prevalence  of  public  virtue,  of  a  genuine 
sort,  can  be  secured  in  no  other  way  than  by  edu- 
cating the  moral  as  well  as  the  intellectual  facul- 
ties,  and  by  forming  the  moral  character  of  the 


192  I'RACTIC ABILITY    OP 

children  of  our  country  upon  Christian  principles. 
The  genius  of  our  governments,  and  especially  the 
critical  condition  of  the  country,  imperatively  call 
for  a  system  of  national  education  which  shall 
strictly  harmonize  w^ith  the  great  requirement  of 
inspiration  —  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  soul  and  mind  and  strength,  and  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself." 

We  w^ant  an  education  which  shall  make  each 
voter  go  to  the  polls  under  a  deep  sense  of  reli- 
gious responsibility  ;  conscious,  as  when  lifting  his 
hand  in  solemn  asseveration  at  the  bar  of  j  ustice,  that 
the  eye  of  the  Omniscient  is  upon  him  ;  and  that 
his  motives,  and  his  vote,  \\-ill  undergo  a  strict  re- 
vision when  the  secrets  of  all  hearts  shall  be  re- 
vealed. We  want  a  system  of  education  which 
shall  reform  our  corrupt  and  corrupting  system  of 
electioneering  ;  which  shall  make  the  candidate 
for  office  rest  his  claims  upon  his  character,  his 
talents,  his  knowledge,  and  his  experience  ;  which 
shall  prepare  the  poor  and  the  necessitous  to  spurn 
the  offer  of  a  bribe,  and  to  record  their  detestation 
of  the  vice,  as  well  as  of  the  tempter,  in  the  poll 
book  ;  which  shall  embolden  the  day  labourer  to 
quit  the  spindle  or  the  plough  and  to  give  his  voice, 
if  duty  bid  him,  against  the  election  of  his  rich 
employer  ;  which  shall  make  the  apartment  where 
the  suffrages  of  the  people  are  recorded,  a  court 
of  conscience,  in  which  private  interest,  personal 
predilections,    and    relationship,    are    cheerfully 


NATION Al.  EDUCATION.  19^ 

sacrificed  to  a  supreme  regard  for  principle,  aijd 
the  general  welfare  of  the  country ;  which  shall 
restrain  the  excesses  of  party  spirit ;  shall  encour- 
age submission  to  law,  and  a  cheerful  acquies- 
cence in  the  will  of  the  majority.  In  short,  we 
want  an  education  whose  tendency  shall  be  to 
make  every  man  industrious  in  his  calling,  honest 
in  his  dealings,  and  benevolent  in  his  disposition  : 
a  judicious  father,  a  good  neighbour  and  a  vir- 
tuous, high-minded,  patriotic  citizen,  j 

The  application  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Third 
Chapter  would  call  for  a  thorough  revolution  in 
the  system  of  education  now  prevalent  among  us ; 
requiring  that  the  process  of  intellectual  culture 
be  conducted  with  a  primary  regard  to  the  form- 
ation of  those  mental  habits  which  shall  qualify 
each  person  to  become  a  safe,  discriminating, 
accurate,  productive,  independent  thinker ;  at  the 
same  time  that  it  would  impart  to  each  pupil  an 
elementary  knowledge  of  such  branches  of  science 
as  would  make  him  acquainted  with  his  physical, 
intellectual,  and  moral  constitution  ;  with  the  mine- 
ral, vegetable,  and  animal  kingdoms  of  nature  ; 
and  with  the  duties,  and  privileges,  growing  out  of 
his  relation  to  the  family,  the  neighbourhood,  his 
country,  and  his  God. 

To  bestow  such  an  education  upon  all  the 
children  of  the  nation,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
prepare,  by  appropriate  professional  training,  up- 
wards of  fifty  thousand  teachers  :  and  to  secure 
17 


194  PRACTICABILITY    OP 

the  permanent  services  of  these,  there  must  he 
raised  something  like  twenty-five  millions  of  dol- 
lars annually  in  the  United  Slates,  and  this  in 
such  a  way  as  to  cause  the  burden  to  fall  lightly 
on  the  poor,  at  the  same  time  that  it  carefully  and 
utterly  avoids  the  odious  designation  of  their 
children  as  a  class. 

The  question  which  relates  to  the  practicahilitff 
of  such  a  system  of  national  education  is  one  of 
the  most  important  that  can  occupy  the  attention 
of  American  citizens.  I  come  now  to  the  con- 
sideration of  this  question,  and  in  answer  to  the 
inquiry  —  is  such  a  system  practicable  ?  —  give  my 
response  most  cordially  and  emphatically  in  the 
affirmative ;  and  proceed  at  once  to  assign  the 
reasons  for  this  opinion. 

I  would  premise  that  there  are  two  ways  in 
which  this  subject  may  be  discussed,  or,  that  there 
are  two  kinds  of  argument  which  may  be  em- 
ployed ;  the  first,  consisting  of  abstract  reasoning 
founded  on  elementary  principles  and  facts  ;  the 
second,  of  a  statement  of  measures  suitable  and 
sufficient  to  effijct  the  end  desired.  1  shall  em- 
ploy both  these  methods  ;  devoting  the  present 
section  to  the  first  of  them. 

My  first  reason,  then,  for  believing  in  the  prac- 
ticability of  such  a  system  of  national  education 
as  I  have  attempted  to  sketch,  is  founded  upon 
the  fact  that  God  has  made  it  obligatory  upon 
parents  and  upon  society  to  bestow  on  every  child 


NATION  A  I.   EDUCATION.  195 

the  kind  and  amount  of  education  which  this  sys- 
tem calls  for. 

I  assume  it  as  a  universal  proposition  whose 
correctness  it  would  be  unnecessary  if  not  wrong 
to  attempt  to  support  by  argument,  that  the  Al- 
mighty never  imposes  on  us  an  obligation,  nor 
requires  the  performance  of  a  duty,  when  obe- 
dience is  not  practicable,  provided  the  aids,  facili- 
ties and  guidance  which  he  promises,  are  properly 
made  use  of.  He  has  solemnly  enjoined  it  upon 
parents  that  they  train  up  their  children  in  the 
way  they  should  go,  that  they  bring  them  up  in 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord ;  and  I 
therefore  believe  it  can  be  effected,  if  not  in  all 
cases  by  the  father  or  mother,  yet  invariably  by 
society,  which,  in  cases  of  parental  inability,  suc- 
ceeds to  the  parental  obligation. 

Another  reason  for  believing  in  the  practica- 
bility of  national  education  properly  so  called,  is, 
that  such  a  system  is  in  harmony  with  the  natural 
rights  of  man ;  and  because  it  implies  a  gross  re- 
flection upon  Providence  to  maintain  that  their 
observance  and  gratification  are  impossible. 

By  just  so  much  as  the  soul  is  superior  to  the 
body,  would  I  rather  believe  that  starvation  in 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  cases  every  year  was 
unavoidable  iii  this  land  of  plenty,  than  that,  for 
any  providential  reason,  the  minds  of  more  than 
half  the  children  of  our  country  should  run  to 
waste,  because  of  the  impossibility  of  giving  them 
an  education.    If  there  be  in  this  world  of  proba- 


196  PRACTICABILITY    OF 

tion  an  unhappy  individual  who  by  the  force  of 
circumstances  beyond  the  control  of  man  is  utterly 
debarred  the  prospect  of  that  spiritual  culture 
which  shall  prepare  him  for  acting  well  his  part 
in  life,  and  fit  his  soul  for  Heaven ;  then  in  the 
sacred  name  of  charity,  let  him  remain  as  pro- 
foundly ignorant  as  possible  of  the  dignity  of  his 
nature,  and  of  the  hopelessnesss  of  his  condition. 
It  is  cruel  to  awaken  hopes  and  aspirations  which 
we  know  at  the  very  time  can  never  be  gratified. 
It  were  mercy  to  such  a  'tvretch  to  seal  up  all 
the  avenues  to  his  spirit,  to  cut  off  all  the  sources 
of  information,  to  repress  the  faintest  rising  of  de- 
sire, and  thus  to  let  him  enjoy  the  pittance  of 
negative  felicity  which  ignorance  vouchsafes  to 
him.  He  is  any  thing  but  a  benefactor  who 
shall  apprise  him  of  his  hopeless  slavery. 

But  we  may  rest  assured  th  t  the  Almighty  im- 
poses no  such  necessity,  as  is  here  alluded  to. 
That  it  does  exist ;  that  there  are  hundreds,  and 
thousands,  who,  by  the  power  of  the  circumstan- 
ces in  which  they  are  involuntarily  placed,  seem 
to  be  shut  out  from  the  glorious  career  of  improve- 
ment that  invites  immortal  beings,  testimony  in  a 
pfofusion  which  is  painful,  constrains  us  to  acknow- 
ledge ;  but,  that  such  is  the  ordination  of  infinite 
benevolence,  I  will  not,  nay,  I  cannot  believe. 
Providence  dooms  no  man's  spirit  to  irremediable 
servitude.  He  does  not  provoke  his  children  to 
^nvy  the  very  brutes  which  perish.  No  —  the 
'hxksy\i\  to  biiow  suii 


NATIOrfAL    EDUCATION.  197 

disabilities  which  exist  in  regard  to  universal  edu- 
cation are  of  our  own  creating.  That  a  state  of 
society  incompatible  with  the  intellectual  and  mo- 
ral culture  of  all  its  members,  does  exist,  we  must 
admit.  But  it  is  of  human  origin.  We  have  cho- 
sen to  put  things  on  a  footing  contrary  to  the  wish- 
es of  our  Heavenly  Father,  We  have  organized 
society  on  principles  at  war  with  those  established 
by  our  Maker.  In  this  respect  "the  foundations  of 
the  earth  are  out  of  course."  But  are  we  there- 
fore exonerated  from  our  responsibility  to  execute 
the  designs,  and  conform  to  the  purposes  of  the 
Creator  ?  Every  human  being  has  a  native,  un- 
transferable right  to  education,  and  it  is  obviously 
the  intention  of  the  Almighty  that  he  should 
receive  it.  The  bestowment  of  this  blessing  on  all 
is  therefore  practicable,  and  the  fault  is  man's  if 
if  they  do  not  enjoy  it.  «. 

But  such  are  our  business  demands  for  time, 
and  such  our  love  of  money,  that  we  try  to  per- 
suade ourselves  we  are  not  able  to  afford  the 
necessary  means  and  leisure,  when  in  truth  we 
are  only  unwilling.  If  there  is  justice  in  the  pro- 
position, that  the  aggregate  wealth  of  a  nation 
constitutes  the  fund  pledged  for  the  education  of 
its  children,  we  have  only  to  look  at  our  commer- 
cial and  manufacturing  statistics,  to  find,  in  less 
than  a  moiety  of  what  we  pay  for  a  very  few 
luxuries  which  might  be  specified,  a  fund  amply 
sufficient  for  all  the  purposes  of  national  education, 
17* 


198  PRACttCABILITY  OP 

That  the  difficulty  of  procuring  means  is  a  very 
serious  obstacle  in  the  way  of  education  ;  that  it 
is  the  only  formidable  hinderance  I  grant.  But 
what  is  the  reason  ?  It  is  not  because  we  do  not 
possess  them.  The  history  of  every  year  shows 
that  we  have  millions  upon  millions  to  expend ; 
but  a  perverted  national  taste  inclines  us  to  ex- 
pend them  for  the  purpose  of  satisfying  artificial 
wants,  rather  than  to  procure  the  invaluable 
benefits  of  education  to  the  children  of  our  country. 

And  can  we,  in  such  a  case,  institute  the  plea 
of  impracticahility,  as  an  apology  for  our  neglect  ? 
This  can  be  appropriated  only  in  cases  where 
there  is  the  want  of  ability  or  means,  not  where 
there  is  merely  the  want  of  inclination.  A  rich 
miser  probably  enough  may  lack  inclination  to 
pay  his  tax  to  government ;  but  will  this  be  con- 
strued into  inability  to  pay  1  Will  he  be  excused 
from  payment  on  the  ground  of  its  being  imprac- 
ticable ?  It  is  a  strange  view  of  morals  which 
tortures  disincHnation  to  perform  a  duty  into  an 
excuse  for  not  performing  it.  Ordinarily  and  cor- 
rectly, it  is  regarded  as  an  aggravation  of  the 
fault. 

The  truth  is,  that  as  a  nation,  we  are  without 
the  shadow  of  apology  for  the  state  of  education 
among  us.  The  money  we  spend  for  tobacco  and 
whisky  alone,  not  to  name  genteeler  luxuries,  is 
more  than  sufficient  to  educate  our  children.  We 
possess  the  means  in  abundance,  and  if  we  would 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  199 

only  appropriate  them,  all  other  difficulties  would 
melt  away  like  dew  before  the  summer's  sun. 
With  what  face,  then,  can  we  affirm  that  national 
education  is  impracticable  ?  Who  can  state  too 
strongly  the  inconsistency,  not  to  say  the  wicked- 
ness, of  ascribing  to  uncontrollable  providential 
arrangements,  what  is  wholly  attributable  to  a 
corruption  of  the  national  taste  ?  Let  us  only  be 
prevailed  upon  to  set  a  proper  estimate  on  the 
relative  value  of  sensual  and  moral  gratifications, 
and  we  shall  soon  discover  that  infinite  wisdom 
and  benevolence  have  not  been  guilty  of  the  ab- 
surdity of  conferring  rights  which  can  never  be 
enjoyed  ;  of  imparting  susceptibilities  that  cannot 
be  cultivated  ;  of  bestowing  powers  which  can 
never  be  employed  ;  of  implanting  desires  that 
can  never  be  gratified  ;  and  of  imposing  duties 
which  we  are  unable  to  discharge. 

From  these  representations,  it  is  obvious  that 
the  real  hinderances  to  education  in  the  United 
States  are  of  a  moral  character,  and  may  there- 
fore be  overcome  by  the  application  of  moral 
means.  This  affiards  another  very  encouraging 
reason  to  believe  in  the  practicability  of  national 
education. 

Were  our  condition  that  of  Hottentots,  who 
may  not  have  one  cultivated  mind  to  act  upon  the 
rest, —  or  that  of  savages,  who  can  scarcely  obtain 
the  necessaries  of  life, —  general  education  would, 
I  grant,  be  morally  and  financially  impracticable. 


200  IfRACTICABlMTY  OP 

But  we  have  surplus  talent  in  abundance  solicit- 
ing employment ;  and  our  national  statistics  show 
that  there  is  no  lack  of  money,  first  to  educate  it 
for  the  business  of  instruction,  and  then  to  secure 
its  services  by  the  offer  of  liberal  remuneration. 
With  us,  therefore,  I  repeat,  the  question  is  not 
one  of  means.  It  is  a  pure  case  of  competition 
between  parental  affection  and  patriotism  on  the 
one  hand,  and  sensual  gratificati«)ns  on  the  other; 
—  between  wine,  tobacco,  whisky,  ribbons,  silks, 
and  other  luxuries,  and  the  present  and  immortal 
interests  of  our  children  ;  —  and  1  think  too  well 
of  my  species,  and  of  my  fellow-citizens,  to  indulge 
the  apprehension  for  a  moment,  that  when  the 
case  is  fairly  stated,  the  decision  will  not  be  a 
wise  and  salutary  one.  I  believe  we  love  our 
children  and  our  country  far  better  than  we  love 
our  money  ;  and,  that  when  the  criminal  absurdity 
of  our  present  conduct  shall  be  properly  exposed, 
the  hoarding  principle  will  be  obliged  to  relax  its 
iron  grasp. 

If  it  were  already  true  that  the  love  of  wealth, 
and  of  luxurious  indulgence,  had  fastened  itself 
impregnably  upon  the  soul  of  the  nation,  why 
then  I  grant  we  might,  with  some  show  of  plausi- 
bility, indulge  despair ;  but  who  is  prepared  to 
make  so  humiliating  a  concession  ?  Besides,  what 
effort  has  been  made  to  dethrone  the  tyrannical 
passion  that  has  been  starving  the  souls  of  our 
countrymen  ?     We  cannot  wonder  that  the  spirit 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  201 

of  the  nation  does  not  instinctively  and  revoltingly 
throw  off  an  incubus  which  the  patriot  and  the 
philanthropist,  aye,  and  the  Christian  too,  have 
quietly  endured  till  very  recently.  When  such 
sacred  interests  are  at  stake,  it  is  worse  than  pu- 
sillanimous to  complain  of  the  impracticability  of 
effecting  that  which  we  have  not  attempted. 

The  right  of  covetousness  to  almost  universal 
sway  has  just  begun  to  be  disputed  ;  and  it  is  pre- 
mature and  cowardly,  to  own  at  the  very  opening 
of  the  contest  that  its  power  is  invincible. 

The  pulpit  has  scarce  begun  to  thunder  in  the 
ears  of  money-loving  Christians,  (if  such  a  mis- 
nomer can  be  tolerated,)  that  "idolatry"  is  the 
synonyme  of  the  passion  which  enslaves  them ; 
and  that  one  and  the  same  place  will  be  assigned 
to  "  fornicators,  idolaters,  adulterers,  thieves,  the 
covetous,  drunkards,  revilers,  and  extortioners ;"  — 
and  the  all-subduing  power  of  "  the  love  of  Christ" 
is  but  just  directing  the  attention  of  his  true  dis- 
ciples to  the  heavenly  maxim,  "  it  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive." 

The  political  economist,  too,  is  just  entering  the 
field  with  his  demonstrations  of  the  fact  that  edu- 
cation IS  WEALTH,  and  that  avarice  is  a  passion 
as  blind  as  it  is  grovelling.  The  efficacy  of  this 
appeal  to  enlightened  selfishness,  —  of  this  obla- 
tion to  the  ruling  passion  of  the  land,  —  is  but 
beginning  to  be  tested  ;  and  I  confidently  predict, 
there  resides  in  it  a  power  which  is  to  achieve 


202  PRACTICABILITY  OF 

wonders  for  the  moral  benefit  of  our  country  arid 
our  race. 

Nor  has  the  historian  yet  come  forward  with 
that  most  desirable  piece  of  moral  history,  —  the 
history  of  wealth  in  the  United  States.  This, 
when  frankly  written  by  an  honest  hand,  must 
exhibit  the  thrilling  facts,  that  in  a  large  majority 
of  cases  the  prospect  of  a  fortune  is  a  curse  ;  and 
that  the  gaming-room,  the  brothel,  and  the  grog- 
shop, are  the  final  reservoirs,  if  not  of  a  moiety, 
yet  certainly  of  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
hoarded  riches  of  this  nation.  Such  an  exhibition 
could  not  fail  to  induce  parents  to  reconsider  the 
question  as  to  the  best  method  of  investing  a  for- 
tune intended  for  a  child,  and  this  as  certainly 
would  lead  to  a  conclusion  highly  favourable  to 
the  interests  of  education.  Let  us  look  at  this  a 
moment. 

Let  us  suppose  that  an  individual,  arrived  at 
maturity,  and  observing  the  relation  which  culti- 
vated mind  sustains  to  respectability  and  efficien- 
cy in  life,  were  called  upon  to  decide  the  ques- 
tion, whether  he  would  prefer  to  receive  $20,000 
with  a  stinted  education,  or  only  $10,000  with  a 
liberal,  judicious  education,  can  we  imagine  that 
he  could  hesitate  a  moment  to  determine?  If 
parents  therefore  would  spend  the  money  design- 
ed for  their  children,  in  the  way  which  their 
children  themselves  would  infinitely  prefer  they 
should  have   done  when   they  come   to   enjoy 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  203 

it,  then  let  them  spend  it  even  lavishly  for  the 
purposes  of  intellectual  and  moral  culture. 

Or  let  us  suppose  that  education  were  an  arti- 
cle of  ordinary  traffic  which  could  be  acquired 
or  alienated  in  a  moment  for  a  monied  considera- 
tion, and  then  ask,  what  sum  of  money  would  in- 
duce the  well  educated  man,  whose  patrimony 
had  been  exhausted  in  obedience  to  this  policy,  to 
part  with  his  education,  on  the  condition  that  he 
should  remain  as  ignorant  as  the  uneducated  for 
the  bilance  of  his  life?  Could  all  the  pebbles 
which  line  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  be  converted 
into  diamonds,  they  would  not  be  sufficient  to 
purchase  it.  He  feels  that  he  has  been  put  in 
possession  of  that  w  hich  is  above  all  price.  Of  its 
value,  a  pecuniary  estimate  cannot  be  made. 

Now,  I  ask  in  sober  earnest,  in  the  name  of 
common  sense,  as  well  as  of  duty  and  humanity, 
is  there  any  other  mode  of  investing  money  for 
our  descendants  half  so  desirable  and  profitable  as 
this  ?  And  then,  too,  it  is  an  indestructible  in- 
vestment. Money  may  perish  in  the  fluctuations 
incident  to  stocks  ;  landed  property  may  depre- 
ciate in  value,  or  be  swallowed  up  by  an  earth- 
quake ;  wealth  in  all  its  forms  is  notoriously  un- 
certain, and  may  "  take  wings  and  fly  away  as 
an  eagle  towards  Heaven  ;"  but  that  which  is  ex- 
pended in  the  cultivation  of  the  mind,  is  placed 
beyond  the  reach  of  accident.     It  constitutes  an 


204  PBACTICABILITY  OF 

investment  that  cannot  be  alienated,  and  is  as  im- 
perishable as  the  soul  itself. 

Oh  !  if  parents  would  but  entertain  these  views, 
and  act  them  out ;  if  they  would  but  restrain  the 
hoarding  principle  within  due  limits,  or  give  to 
this  propensity  its  right  direction,  how  different  a 
state  of  things  would  soon  exist !  A  moiety,  nay, 
a  tythe,  of  the  surplus  wealth  of  our  country, 
spent  judiciously  upon  the  education  of  its  youth, 
would  soon  relieve  us  of  our  pressing  social  ills, 
allay  the  current  apprehensions  in  regard  to  our 
national  prospects,  and  decide  forever  the  ques- 
tion about  the  practicability  of  self-government. 
Let  the  entire  youth  of  but  a  single  generation 
be  educated  as  they  should  be  from  infancy  to 
manhood,  in  body,  heart,  and  mind,  and  the  golden 
age  of  the  poets  would  soon  cease  to  be  regarded 
as  a  fiction,  the  Millenium  of  the  Bible  would 
speedily  be  realized. 

Oh  my  countrymen  !  when  will  you  awake  to 
a  consideration  of  these  things,  and  to  a  know- 
ledge of  your  true  interests,  and  dignity,  and  du- 
ty ?  The  hopes  of  other  nations,  as  well  as  other 
generations,  are  entrusted  to  your  care.  Would 
you  approve  yourselves  worthy  of  the  trust  ? 
Know  then,  assuredly,  that  by  the  appropriate  ed- 
ucation of  your  youth  and  in  no  other  way,  you 
may  discharge  your  every  obligation.  Only  per- 
form this  duty  as  you  ought,  and  "  generations 
yet  unborn  will  call  you  blessed."    By  all  then 


National  education.  205 

that  is  sacred  in  your  duty  to  your  children,  by 
all  that  is  binding  on  the  score  of  patriotism,  and 
by  all  the  claims  of  degraded,  suflfering  humanity, 
I  pray  you  not  to  sacrifice  the  priceless  interests 
committed  to  your  care,  in  obedience  to  the  man- 
dates of  a  sordid  thirst  for  gain  !  Your  children, 
and  your  country,  are  too  dear  a  sacrifice  to  offer 
on  the  akar  of  this  Moloch  ! 

Another  reason  for  believing  in  the  practicabil- 
ity of  a  system  of  education  which  shall  embrace 
all  the  children  of  the  nation,  and  shall  address 
itself  to  all  the  faculties,  moral  as  well  as  intellec- 
tual, of  every  child,  giving  at  the  same  time  such 
an  amount  and  variety  of  elementary  knowledge, 
as,  by  the  additions  each  one  shall  be  fitted  to 
make  by  his  own  exertions,  will  prepare  him  for 
the  business  and  the  duties  of  life,  is,  that  its  prac- 
ticability is  recognised  by  our  religion,  and  by 
the  theory  of  our  political  institutions. 

There  is  a  sophistical  inconsistency  in  the  rea- 
soning of  those  who  maintain  the  impossibility  of 
making  a  comparatively  liberal  education  univer- 
sal, or  even  general,  which  it  is  very  important, 
and  happily,  very  easy  to  expose.  They  almost 
invariably  reason  as  if  the  demand  originated  with 
the  visionary  enthusiasts,  as  they  consider  them, 
against  whose  airy  dreams  they  fancy  themselves 
to  be  contending.  It  is  high  time  that  the  fact 
should  be  placed  in  such  prominent  relief  as  no 
longer  to  be  capable  of  being  overlooked,  that 
18 


206  PRACTICABILITY  OV 

this  demand  is  imperatively  made  by  our  boasted 
institutions,  religious  and  political,  by  our  common 
Christianity,  and  our  common  republicanism.  If 
there  be  in  the  belief  that  society  has  it  in  its 
power  to  give  to  every  rfiember  such  an  education, 
physical,  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious,  as  will 
fit  him  to  act  his  part  upon  the  theatre  of  life  with 
credit  to  himself,  and  benefit  to  others,  ajght  that 
is  visionary  or  fanatical,  then  the  blame  of  its  ex- 
istence belongs,  not  to  the  advocate  of  human  im- 
provement, but  to  the  Bible,  and  to  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  These  both  assume  the 
practicability  of  such  education  as  that  for  which 
I  contend  ;  nor  are  the  ends  of  either  attainable 
without  it.  If  the  former  is  not  practicable,  then 
the  aims  of  these  are  not  practicable. 

The  great  moral  struggle  which  is  going  on  at 
present  in  the  world,  is  the  struggle  for  empire 
between  precedent  and  principle.  Hitherto,  — 
that  is,  till  quite  a  recent  period,  —  men  inherited 
the  opinions  and  customs,  as  certainly  as  they  in- 
herited the  features  and  the  traits  of  character,  of 
their  parents ;  hence,  the  world  went  on  in  the 
torpid,  dull  routine  of  imitation  ;  every  thing  being 
prescribed,  and  no  one  dreaming  of  his  being  a 
slave,  nor  thinking  of  a  deviation  from  the  beaten 
track  :  then  reflection,  and  consequently  education, 
was  unnecessary.  It  is  perfectly  easy  and  natu- 
ral for  brutes,  with  halters  to  their  heads,  to  follow 
the  footsteps  of  their  leaders  ;  but,  since  Martin 


NATIONAL   EDUCATION.  207 

Luther,  and  the  fathers  of  our  revolution,  apprized 
mankind  that  they  had  minds  and  rights,  the  moral 
attitude  of  society  has  been  changed  :  the  passive 
monotony  of  ages  has  been  broken  up, —  and  now 
people  are  obliged  to  think;  for,  amidst  the  end- 
less diversity  of  conflicting  views  and  guides  so- 
liciting their  approbation,  they  know  not  whom 
nor  what  to  follow.  The  "  war  of  opinions"  has 
commenced ;  and  it  is  a  conflict  in  which  the  cir- 
cumstances and  spirit  of  the  age  compel  every 
man  to  join  ;  it  is  a  struggle  in  which  neutrality 
is  out  of  the  question.  There  is  no  such  thing  as 
being  passive  ;  he  who  attempts  to  be  so  knows 
not  what  moment  he  may  become  the  foot-ball  of 
the  designing  or  the  ignorant. 

Republican  institutions  have  had  an  analytical 
effect  upon  society,  reducing  masses  to  their  con- 
stituent elements,  individualizing  communities,  and 
placing  every  man  upon  the  footing  of  an  indepen- 
dent, personally  responsible  agent.  If  each  and 
all  can  be  prepared  by  proper  education  to  act 
well  their  parts  in  this  respect,  then  these  institu- 
tions, however  severe  the  trial  to  which  they  shall 
be  subjected,  may  survive  and  flourish  ;  but  if  not, 
—  if  the  people  of  the  present  generation  shall  be 
found  to  be  correct  in  the  impression  which  they 
seem  to  entertain,  that  their  revolutionary  sires 
were  deluded  in  relying,  as  they  did,  upon  the 
assumed  practicability  of  a  saving  and  exalting 
national  education,  then  the  reader  and  the  writer 


208  PRACTICABILITY   OF 

of  these  pages  may  yet  live  to  hear  the  exultations 
of  the  monarchist^  and  the  wailings  of  republicans, 
over  the  downfall  of  our  blood-bought  institutions. 

Our  holy  religion,  too,  no  less  than  our  republi- 
can governments,  recognises  men  as  individuals. 
Jesus  invariably  approached  them  as  such :  and 
the  uniform  tenour  of  the  language  of  all  the  in- 
spired writers  is,  we  "  speak  as  unto  wise  men ; 
judge  ye  what  we  say ;"  and  "  be  ready  always 
to  give  an  answer  to  every  man  that  asketh  you  a 
reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  you."  Now,  if  indeed 
a  universal,  rational,  liberal  system  of  education, 
such  as  will  fit  men  to  be  "  wise,"  to  "judge"  and 
"  reason,"  be  impracticable,  what  shall  we  say  of 
the  prospects  of  a  religion  whose  successful  appli- 
cation depends,  upon  the  execution  of  injunctions 
such  as  these  ? 

How  strangely  inconsistent  oftentimes  is  human 
reason !  We  boast  of  the  glorious  prospects  of 
our  religious  and  political  institutions,  whilst,  at 
the  very  time,  we  seem  to  doubt  the  feasibility  of 
that  kind  of  education  which  is  essential  to  give 
them  effect  and  to  preserve  them  :  that  is,  we 
believe  the  end  is  certain^  but  the  means  imprac- 
ticable ! 

I  feel  disposed  and  authorized  to  demand  of 
those  who  doubt  the  feasibility  of  liberal,  popular 
education,  that  they  take  a  position  and  adhere  to 
it.  I  ask  them  then  distinctly  the  question,  can 
the  people  at  large,  —  /  mean  the  farmers^  the 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  209 

mechanics,  and  the  labourers  of  the  country,  —  be 
made  capable  of  that  reflection  and  research 
which  are  requisite  to  the  formation  of  correct 
opinions  ?  If  they  can,  then  the  tyranny  is  equal- 
led only  by  the  impolicy  of  debarring  them  that 
measure  and  kind  of  education  which  is  essential 
to  qualify  them  for  their  exercise.  If  not,  then 
let  it  be  avowed  on  all  occasions,  and  in  all  its 
bearings,  as  well  in  relation  to  the  practicability 
of  our  republican  form  of  government,  as  in  re- 
gard to  that  extended  education  of  all  the  people, 
which  is  its  best,  —  its  only  support.  We  cannot 
deny  that  these  sustain  to  each  other  the  relation 
of  cause  and  effect,  —  of  foundation  and  super- 
structure. Consistently  with  our  republican  creed, 
we  are  obliged  to  admit  that  the  people  may  be 
appropriately  educated,  or  to  maintain  that  Wash- 
ington, and  all  our  wisest  and  worthiest  statesmen 
have  been  wrong  in  supposing  knowledge  and  vir- 
tue, the  fruits  of  education,  to  be  essential  as  safe- 
guards of  our  liberties  ;  or  to  be  guilty  of  the  still 
greater  absurdity  of  supposing  that  intelligence  in 
our  latitude  and  longitude  will  come  without  exer- 
tion :  that  such  is  the  inspiring  influence  of  a  re- 
publican atmosphere,  that  our  citizens  are  horn 
with  the  requisite  qualifications  for  self-govern- 
ment ;  —  that  their  knowledge  is  instinctive  ;  and 
that  Locke,  and  others  of  the  metaphysical  fra- 
ternity, were  in  error,  at  least  so  far  as  relates  to 
us,  about  the  nonexistence  of  innate  ideas  ! 
18* 


210  PRACTICABILITY  OF 

I  beg  particular  attention  to  this  reasoning^.  It 
seems  to  me  to  be  sound  ;  and  if  so,  there  can  be 
but  one  opinion  about  its  importance.  A  greater 
delusion  cannot  be  adduced  than  that  by  which 
our  nation  seems  to  be  spell-bound  on  this  subject. 
We  maintain  one  moment  in  controversy  with  the 
monarchist,  that  with  the  aid  of  virtue  and  intel- 
Kgence  our  government  is  feasible  ;  and  yet  the 
very  next  we  dispirit  the  philanthropist  and  prac- 
tical patriot,  in  their  liberal  efforts  for  popular  im- 
provement, by  contending  that  the  education  of 
the  people  is  impracticable  ! 

But  all  such  objections  and  misgivings  as  those 
I  have  been  combatting,  are  not  only  without 
foundation,  but  are  out  of  place  and  useless,  with 
reference  to  the  popular  mind  in  the  United  States. 
Fortunately  for  the  human  race,  we  are  placed  in 
circumstances  under  which  we  have  no  option  as 
to  our  conduct  in  regard  to  education  ;  experi- 
ence is  demonstrating,  what  correct  views  of  hu- 
man nature  should  have  long  since  led  us  to  anti- 
cipate, that  the  low  attainments,  intellectual  and 
moraJv  with  which  we  have  been  hitherto  con-, 
tented,  and  which  so  many  deem  unavoidable,  are 
not  sufficient  for  our  political  necessities  :  unless 
it  be  in  the  power  of  education,  therefore,  to  do 
vastly  more  for  us  than  it  has  done,  —  if  the  past 
afford  a  just  measure  of  the  future,  —  then  our 
case  is  hopeless. 

It  is  quite  too  late  for  us  to  discuss  the  question 


NATIONAL    EDUCATION.  211 

of  the  practicability  of  appropriate  popular  educa- 
tion. The  original  framers  of  all  our  constitutions 
have  assumed  it ;  and  acting  upon  this  assumption 
we  have  removed  the  few  restraints  upon  the 
elective  franchise  which  they  deemed  it  prudent 
to  leave.  Our  hearty  undivided  efforts  therefore 
should  be  given  to  spreading  far  and  wide  those 
means  of  intellectual  and  moral  culture  which 
our  democratic  ardour  has  made  essential.  The 
time  for  entertaining  doubts  of  the  possibility  of 
the  liberal  education  of  oil  the  people  was  before 
our  revolutionary  struggle,  before  we  had  precip- 
itated ourselves  into  a  situation  which  makes  this 
impossibility  essential.  The  vessel  is  fairly  out  at 
sea  ;  a  storm  is  gathering  ;  breakers  are  ahead  ; 
k  is  impossible  to  put  about,  for  the  people  are  at 
the  helm  and  in  command,  and  will  go  forward  ; 
and  if,  while  under  way,  we  cannot  manage  to 
inspire  them  with  caution  and  to  teach  them  the 
art  of  political  navigation,  then  the  best  that  can 
be  said  of  our  prospects  is  that  we  must  take  ottr 
chance.  ill 

If  this  be  impracticable,  if  the  great  mass  of  the 
people  are  insusceptible  of  a  comparatively  liberal 
education,  and  yet  if  this  be  necessary  for  our 
social  welfare  under  the  political  institutions  be- 
queathed us  by  our  ancestors,  then  it  was  unwise 
as  it  was  unkind  in  the  fathers  of  the  revolution 
to  break  up  a  state  of  society  with  which  popu- 
lar   ignorance    was    not    incompatible,    and    to 


212  PRACTICABILITY   OP 

throw  their  children  into  a  condition  in  which 
the  means  of  their  security  and  happiness 
are  beyond  their  reach.  If,  I  repeat,  the  liberal 
education  of  all  the  people  be  from  the  present 
structure  of  society  indispensable,  and  at  the  same 
time  unattainable,  better  would  it  have  been  that 
we  had  remained  the  subjects  of  monarchical 
power;  for  better,  far  better,  is  it  to  have  govern- 
ment in  any  form,  even  the  most  arbitrary  and 
despotic,  than  to  be  exposed  to  the  lawless  anar- 
chy and  misrule  which  must  ensue  upon  an  eman- 
cipation of  the  popular  will,  without  appropriate 
enlightenment  of  the  popular  mind. 

Before  I  close  this  section  I  must  not  fail  to  re- 
iterate that  1  by  no  means  deem  it  essential  to  the 
theory  sketched  in  the  preceding  chapter,  that  the 
improvements  which  it  suggests  be  instantaneously 
made.  I  regard  tliis  as  the  work  of  time,  of  suc- 
cessive generations.  I  do  not  expect  educational 
and  consequently  national  perfection  to  be  reached 
by  a  bound.  All  experience  admonishes  us  that 
the  human  mind  does  not  go  by  bounds.  I  merely 
contend,  as  I  shall  not  cease  to  do  while  God 
allows  me  breath  to  speak  or  strength  to  move  a 
pen,  for  the  practicability  of  improvement,  vast 
improvement,  time  and  favouring  circumstances 
being  allowed.  I  alledge  most  solemnly  the  belief 
that  this  is  within  our  power,  provided  we  shall 
use  the  means  which  God  in  his  providence  has 
plac^  at  our  disposal     Here  is  the  source  of  diffi- 


NATIONAL    EDUCATION.  213 

culty,  here  is  the  obstruction,  here  the  point  of  fail- 
ure. We  do  not  exert  ourselves  as  we  ought  and 
as  we  might,  for  its  achievement.  1  know  it  is 
impracticable  without  exertion,  and  I  complain 
of  that  skepticism  the  absurdity  of  which  I  would 
expose,  that  it  is  one  of  the  principal  causes  of 
that  excessive  torpor  upon  this  subject  which  is  so 
prevalent.  I  admit  the  necessity  of  caution, 
moderation,  prudence.  But  these  are  virtues  we 
can  bring  in  play  only  while  we  are  acting,  not 
when  we  are  sitting  still. 

I  admit  there  is  a  species  of  hope  which  is  ex- 
travagant and  injudicious,  which  enthusiastically 
calculates  on  splendid  results  without  the  use  of 
adequate  means.  Such  a  hope,  I  grant,  it  is  im- 
politic to  cherish.  It  can  be  the  interest  of  none 
to  deceive  or  impose  upon  themselves.  The 
short-lived  pleasure,  arising  from  the  temporary 
indulgence  of  unfounded  expectations,  is  but  a 
poor  remuneration  for  the  bitterness  and  mortifi- 
cation of  final  disappointment.  But  then  there  is 
also  a  timidity  which  is  fatal  to  every  thing  like 
enterprise,  and  there  is  a  paralyzing  skepticism 
which  is  either  based  on  uninformed  indifference 
or  else  affected  as  an  apology  for  parsimony  and 
inaction.  There  is  no  greater  obstacle  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  system  of  national  education,  of 
American  education,  than  this  deep-rooted  and 
wide-spread  skepticism,  as  to  its  practicability. 
It  is  true  in  other  things  as  well  as  in  religion. 


214  PRACTICABILITY    OF 

that  unbelief  may  make  impossible  what  but  for 
it  is  only  difficult.  This  though,  thank  God,  is  a 
hinderance  of  our  own  creating  ;  and  as  it  is  based 
upon  erroneous  reasoning  and  views,  it  is  there- 
fore superable,  and  there  is  abundant  encourage- 
ment to  attack  it. 

One  of  the  most  alarming  signs  in  our  political 
horizon  is  the  despondency  which  has  pervaded 
the  minds  of  some  of  our  best  and  greatest  men, 
as  to  our  national  prospects.  Those  who  indulge 
this  weakness  cannot  have  reflected  upon  the 
contagious  influence  of  their  example.  They 
ought  to  remember  that  despondency  in  them 
tends  to  produce  despair  in  ordinary  minds.  Such 
a  feeling,  therefore,  should  not  be  tolerated  by 
them  for  a  moment.  Beside,  such  apprehensions 
I  most  fondly  believe  to  be  unfounded,  at  all  events 
premature.  Those  who  entertain  them  cannot 
have  reflected  on  the  regenerating,  saving  power 
of  education.  They  misjudge  the  capabilities  of 
our  nature,they  degrade  its  prospects,  they  rate  too 
low  its  susceptibilities,  and  anticipate  too  little  from 
the  application  of  means  whose  influence  has 
scarcely  yet  been  tried  :  above  all,  they  are  want- 
ing in  faith  in  that  wise  and  overruling  Providence 
who  has  thus  far  so  signally  guided  and  protected 
our  nation. 

No — let  us  "never  despair  of  the  Republic  T 
With  this  as  our  motto  let  us  awake  from  our  leth- 
argy ;  let  us  banish  our  forebodings  and  lend  our 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION,  216 

wndivided  energies  to  improve  and  multiply  the 
means  of  education  in  which,  under  God  it  is 
universally  acknowledged,  if  there  be  safety  any 
where,  safety  only  can  be  found.  I  admit  that 
there  is  danger,  but  let  us  be  up  and  doing  to  avert 
it.  I  know  it  is  within  the  limits  of  possibility 
that  the  great  moral  experiment  we  have  been 
entrusted  with  trying,  may  ultimately  prove  a  fail- 
ure. Yet  if  this  be  ordained,  let  us  see  that  it  be 
not  permitted  to  fail  without  a  becoming  struggle 
in  its  favour.  I  grant  it  is  not  impossible,  that 
the  noble  vessel  launched  by  our  fathers,  and  on 
which  have  been  embarked  the  hopes  of  our  own 
and  of  other  nations,  of  this  and  of  future  generations, 
may  ultimately  be  engulfed  and  perish  ;  but  let  us, 
one  and  all,  resolve  that  if  this  is  to  be  her  fate, 
that  if  she  must  go  down,  she  shall  sink  with  sails 
all  spread,  and  colours  flying,  betokening  to  the 
world  it  was  not  our  fault ;  that  io  the  last  we 
were  to  be  found  at  our  post  doing  our  duty  ! 


SECTION  n. 

Having  given  in  the  preceding  section  my  reasons 
for  believing  in  the  practicability  of  such  a  system 
of  national  education  as  is  dictated  by  the  philoso- 
phy of  human  nature  and  the  social  and  political 
relations  of  Americans,  I  proceed  in  this  to  oiFer  some 


216  PRACTICABILITY    OP 

suggestions  as  to  the  legislative  steps  which  should 
be  taken  to  put  this  system  into  operation.  In 
stating  these,  I  shall  take  them  up  in  the  natural 
order  of  succession. 

The  first  thing  then  to  be  determined  by  a 
legislature  or  a  parent  when  providing  for  the 
education  of  children,  is  to  say  what  that  educa- 
tion shall  be. 

It  is  not  a  little  singular  that  this  has  been  omitted 
in  all  the  legislative  efforts  made  for  the  spread  of 
common  school  education  in  this  country.  It  has 
been  left  for  neighbourhoods  and  teachers  to  decide, 
not  only  as  to  the  books  which  should  be  employed, 
(this  is  well  enough,)  but  as  to  the  studies  which 
should  be  pursued,  and  the  intellectual  and  moral 
habits  which  should  be  formed.  Now  it  is  clear 
that  in  this  way  a  diversity  of  tastes  would  be 
consulted,  which  must  produce  a  diversity  in  the 
results  altogether  inconsistent  with  that  general 
uniformity  which  is  one  of  the  most  obvious  fea- 
tures in  what  may  properly  be  called  national 
education.  A  nation  is  a  large  family  ;  and  as  all 
the  members  of  this  family  are  to  spend  their  lives 
under  very  similar  circumstances,  and  under  the 
same  institutions,  it  is  manifest  that  their  elemen' 
tary  education  should  be  pretty  much  the  same ; 
and  that  its  character  and  degree  should  have  a 
primary  reference  to  the  nature  of  these  circum- 
stances and  these  institutions.  But  these  ends 
can  never  be  attained  if  the  choice  of  the  plan 


National  education.  217 

of  education  be  left  to  children  or  their  parents,        -^^ 
or  their  teachers.    The  legislature  therefore  should 
prescribe  it. 

In  expressing  an  opinion  as  to  the  nature  of 
American  education,  I  of  course  should  say,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  views  advanced  in  the  second 
and  third  chapters  of  this  work,  that  it  ought  to 
be  made  emphatically  religious,  strictly  philoso- 
phical, and  far  more  extensive  in  its  range  of  studies 
than  it  is  at  present. 

In  the  first  place,  it  should  be  emphatically  re- 
ligious. 

If  this  be  conceded,  and  legislatures  be  ready  to 
act  upon  it,  and  the  people  willing  they  shall  do 
so,  the  mode  of  effecting  it  is  both  plain  and  easy. 
All  that  is  requisite  in  this  case  is,  that  the  study 
of  the  Bible,  with  a  view  to  teaching  it,  shall  form 
a  part  of  the  professional  education  of  instructers 
in  the  seminaries  erected  for  this  purpose ;  and 
that  they  shall  be  authorized,  if  not  directed,  to 
take  it  with  them  into  the  schools  where  they 
shall  teach,  and  to  use  it  daily  for  all  the  purposes 
of  the  moral  and  religious  culture  of  the  children 
committed  to  their  care. 

I  embrace  this  opportunity  to  guard  against  the 
possibility  of  unintentional  misconception  as  to 
what  I  mean  by  religious  education. 

I  shall  state,  in  the  first  place,  what  I  do  not 
mean,  and  in  the  next  what  I  do  mean  by  this 
expression. 

19 


218  PRACTICABILITY   OP 

I  say  then  at  once,  and  with  emphatic  distinct- 
ness, that  by  religious  education  I  do  not  mean 
sectarian  nor  (according  to  the  general  accepta- 
tion of  the  word)  even  doctrinal  instruction.  It 
is  quite  enough  that  the  minds  of  individuals  should 
be  perplexed  by  the  consideration  of  controverted 
theological  dogmas,  when  they  shall  have  arrived 
at  years  of  maturity ;  and,  therefore,  to  spare  the 
mind  of  simple  hearted  childhood  this  distracting 
and  too  often  exasperating  task,  is  but  the  moder- 
ate demand  of  ordinary  charity.  "  Technical  di- 
vinity," even  in  its  unexceptionable  forms,  is  a 
study  for  ripened  understandings  ;  and  to  harass 
the  minds  of  children  with  doctrines  which  they 
cannot  understand,  —  to  involve  them,  if  they  are 
connected  with  families  belonging  to  different  per- 
suasions, in  angry  and  interminable  discussions,  at 
a  place  and  time  when  all  should  be  peaceful  and 
harmonious  association  ; — in  short,  to  convert  the 
school-room  into  a  theological  hall,  and  to  pervert 
education  into  a  grand  instrument  for  making 
proselytes,  would  be  cruel  and  dishonest  in  the 
extreme. 

If,  as  is  reasonable,  parents  desire  to  have  their 
children  informed  as  to  the  peculiarities  of  their 
own  faith,  nothing  is  easier  nor  more  simple  than 
to  throw  this  task  upon  the  Sunday-school,  where 
none  but  children  of  the  same  persuasion  are  as- 
sembled, or  (as  is  done  in  Prussia,  so  as  to  avoid 
every  difficulty,)  to  reserve  it  for  their  respective 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  219 

spiritual  teachers  ;  but  never  let  the  shadow  of 
sectarian  influence  be  engrafted  upon  the  exer- 
cises of  the  ordinary  school :  on  this  point  I  would 
be  as  strenuous  as  any  one. 

There  are  many,  however,  who  are  afraid  that 
the  most  prudent  and  impartial  attempt  to  intro- 
duce religious  instruction  into  schools  would  una- 
voidably have  a  proselyting  tendency  ;  but  all  such 
apprehensions  are  based  upon  an  assumption  which 
is  utterly  without  foundation.  It  is  a  most  unfor- 
tunate impression  which  has  obtained  general  cur- 
rency in  our  country,  involving  even  Christians  in 
practical  indifference  where  all  should  be  stirring 
and  conscientious  activity,  that  it  is  impracticable 
for  us,  divided  as  we  are  into  so  many  sects,  to 
make  religious  culture  an  object  of  attention  in 
our  schools  without  interfering  with  peculiaritieg 
of  faith. 

The  question  was  sometimes  asked  myself,  if  I 
did  not  find  it  hard  to  keep  my  promise  of  neu- 
trality in  this  respect  while  conducting  the  morn- 
ing exercises  with  my  pupils,  alluded  to  in  the 
third  section  of  the  second  chapter  ?  In  answer 
to  this,  it  always  gave  me  pleasure  to  express,  as 
it  does  here  to  record,  my  sincere  conviction  that 
to  encounter  any  difficulty  from  this  cause  in  an 
honest  effort  to  inculcate  Scriptural  truth/orprac- 
tical  purposes,  it  must  be  wilfully  sought  after.  I 
never  experienced  the  shadow  of  embarrassment 
on  this  account,  nor  do  I  believe  it  necessary  that 


220  PKACTICABII-ITY  OF 

it  be  experienced  by  any  one  in  any  case  whatever. 
There  is  abundance  in  the  Bible  which  is  matter  of 
common  faith  with  all  denominations,  the  commu- 
nication of  which  may  employ  all  the  time  of  the 
most  assiduous  teacher.  When  the  copious  his- 
tory and  biography  of  the  sacred  volume,  its  in- 
numerable precepts  forming  the  best  code  and  the 
only  perfect  code  of  morals  in  the  world,  its  ex- 
ceeding great  and  precious  promises  scattered  on 
ever)'  page,  and  inspiring  motives  and  ability  to 
those  who  will  approjM-iate  them  to  "  become  par- 
takers of  the  Divine  nature  ;"  when  these,  I  say, 
shall  have  been  exhausted,  then,  and  not  till  then, 
can  it  be  fairly  objected  to  the  employment  of  the 
Bible  as  an  instrument  of  moral  influence,  that  we 
cannot  so  use  it,  without  subjecting  the  minds  of 
children  to  the  study  of  metaphysical  subtleties, 
and  disturbing  the  peace  of  society  by  embroiling 
the  young  in  the  unfortunate  religious  differences 
that  divide  their  parents.  It  is  truly  cheering  to 
reflect,  that  for  every  verse  of  the  inspired  record 
about  whose  meaning  denominations  differ,  there 
are  at  least  a  thousand  in  which  they  perfectly 
agree  ;  so  that  upon  the  doctrine  of  chances,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  safeguard  afforded  by  principle 
and  common  honesty  in  teachers,  there  is  but  little 
danger  to  be  apprehended. 

To  admit,  as  has  been  generally  done  at  least 
in  act  by  Christians  throughout  the  Union,  that 
the  Bible  cannot  be  employed  in  education  with- 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  221 

out  exerting  a  sectarian  influence  is  virtually  to 
consent  to  the  banishment  of  religion  altogether 
from  our  schools.  And  such  is  the  singular  and 
inconsistent  state  of  things  in  this  Christian  land 
at  present.  To  appropriate  the  language  of  Dr. 
Rush  upon  the  subject,  there  never  was  devised  a 
more  ingenious  stratagem  than  "this  new  mode 
of  attacking  Christianity."  Even  allowing  it  to 
be  true  that  the  only  alternative  for  the  banish- 
ment of  religion  were  a  resort  to  the  most  flagrant 
sectarian  influence,  still  we  should  not  hesitate  for 
a  moment  which  extreme  to  choose,  for  any  reli- 
gion whatever,  even  if  it  be  that  of  Mahomet  or 
Confucius,  is  to  be  preferred  to  practical  Atheism. 
So  far  from  wishing  to  see  our  "  common 
schools  "  converted  into  proselyting  engines,  and 
from  believing  that  religious  and  sectarian  in- 
struction are  inseparable,  I  am  inclined  to  the  im- 
pression that  the  only  way  to  prevent  the  educa- 
tion of  the  country  from  becoming  sectarian,  is 
for  the  government  to  make  it  religious.  Reli- 
gious it  must  be  made  in  some  way  or  other  ;  and 
if  our  legislatures  do  not  bring  it  about,  the  pious 
portion  of  our  citizens  will  do  it  for  themselves. 
That  the  moral  faculties  should  be  cultivated  as 
well  as  the  intellectual,  and  that  the  Bible  should 
be  made  to  lend  the  strengthening  sanctions  and 
the  guidance  of  its  religion  to  the  popular  moral 
ity,  are  propositions  which,  in  a  Christian  com- 
munity, should  not  be  regarded  as  open  for  djs- 
19* 


222  PRACTICABILITY  OF 

cussion.  They  should  be  looked  upon  as  matters 
of  conscience  which  do  not  admit  of  deliberation. 
As  such,  they  are  attracting  the  notice  of  Chris- 
tians of  every  name.  And  all  who  think  and  ex- 
amine seriously,  come  to  one  and  the  same  con- 
clusion on  the  subject. 

So  soon  as  this  impression  shall  have  become 
sufficiently  general  to  induce  concert  in  its  appli- 
cation, (and  it  behooves  the  legislators  of  our 
country  to  mark  the  rapid  progress  it  is  making,) 
a  new  and  delicate  question  will  arise,  as  to  who 
shall  be  the  teachers  in  these  schools,  and  what 
the  nature  of  the  religious  instruction  communi- 
cated in  them  ?  This  question,  it  could  hardly  be 
expected  the  various  denominations  would  be  able 
to  settle  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  upon  any  amal- 
gamating plan,  and  of  course  there  would  be  dan- 
ger lest  sectarian  jealousy  should  demand  for  the 
children  of  each  denomination,  teachers  of  the 
same  shade  of  faith,  and  thus  the  country  become 
as  much  divided  in  regard  to  the  support  of  edu- 
cation, as  it  is  about  the  maintenance  of  religion. 

The  effects  of  such  disunion  in  the  United 
States  would  be  disastrous  in  the  extreme,  far  worse 
with  us  than  in  France,  or  Prussia,  or  any  other 
European  nation.  The  Prussian  public  school 
system  is  said  to  experience  little  or  no  embar- 
rassment from  differences  in  religious  faith  among 
the  people.  An  adequate  reason  for  this  readily 
suggests  itself  without  the  necessity  of  supposing 


NATIONAL    EDUCATION.  223 

that  there  exists  in  that  country  greater  indifference 
about  peculiarities  in  religion  than  here.  In  Prussia 
there  are  but  two  sects,  the  Protestant  and  Ro- 
man Catholic.  In  the  United  States  there  are 
dozens.  In  Prussia,  the  Roman  Catholics  and 
Protestants  are  for  the  most  part  settled  in  sepa- 
rate provinces,  which,  according  to  the  prepon- 
derance of  one  or  the  other  class,  admit  of  being 
designated  in  the  Geographies  as  Catholic  or 
Protestant  provinces.  It  is  a  very  easy  thing, 
therefore,  under  such  circumstances,  to  introduce 
religious  instruction  into  the  schools  without  en- 
countering difficulties  from  sectarian  prejudice. 
All  that  is  requisite  is  (what  would  naturally  oc- 
cur,) to  employ  Catholic  teachers  in  a  Catholic 
province,  or  neighbourhood,  and  the  reverse  in 
Protestant  settlements. 

But  in  the  United  States,  Baptists,  Methodists, 
Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  &c.  are  scattered 
promiscuously  over  the  face  of  the  country ;  the 
same  neighbourhood  commonly  containing  fami- 
lies that  belong  to  different  religious  bodies.  If 
by  any  cause,  therefore,  such  a  state  of  things  be 
brought  about  that  the  Baptist  must  have  a  Bap- 
tist schoolmaster  for  his  children  ;  others  a  Meth- 
odist for  theirs ;  and  others,  still  within  the  same 
vicinity,  a  Presbyterian  for  theirs,  the  inevitable 
consequence  must  be,  that  owing  to  this  manifold 
division  of  the  strength  of  the  neighbourhood,  it 


224  PRACTICABILITY  OF 

will  either  have  no  school  at  all,  or  else  several 
of  a  very  inferior  character. 

The  costliness  of  such  an  arrangement  which 
would  impose  upon  the  same  neighbourhood  the 
burden  of  erecting  and  furnishing  several  school- 
houses,  and  of  maintaining  several  teachers,  when 
one  of  each  would  be  sufficient  for  the  whole,  is 
of  itself  a  sufficient  objection  against  it.  When 
we  consider,  too,  the  sparseness  of  the  population 
in  most  parts  of  the  Union,  particularly  in  the 
newer  states,  where  attention  to  education  is  most 
desirable  because  most  likely  to  be  neglected, 
and  when  we  reflect  how  very  partially  education 
is  diffiised  at  present,  in  the  absence  of  so  for- 
midable a  hinderance  as  that  of  which  we  speak, 
it  surely  must  be  admitted  that  the  obstacles  to 
its  dissemination  are  abundantly  numerous  and 
great  without  adding  others  to  the  list. 

But  the  most  distressing  of  all  consequences, 
one  by  the  side  of  which  all  others  dwindle  into 
shadows,  would  be  the  infusion  of  religious  party 
spirit  into  the  bosoms  of  the  youth  and  children 
of  our  country.  The  harmony  of  society  is  dis- 
turbed enough  at  present ;  its  texture  is  sufficiently 
rent  and  torn  by  differences  of  religious  opinion 
as  they  prevail  among  adults.  But  these  evils, 
already  great,  would  be  increased  a  thousand 
fold  and  carried  beyond  endurance,  if  our  off- 
spring were  to  be  made  parties  in  sectarian  strife, 
if  our  children  taking  sides  in  infancy,  were  to 


NATIONAIi  EDUCATION.  225 

grow  up  to  manhood  with  the  confirmed  habits 
of  religious  partizans.  At  present,  the  peace  of 
the  school-room,  and  the  hilarity  of  the  play- 
ground are  interrupted  but  little  by  diversities  of 
religious  or  political  opinion  existing  among  pa- 
rents. God  grant  the  day  may  never  arrive  when 
the  question  shall  be  frequently  and  seriously  enter- 
tained, whether  it  is  not  better  to  have  no  schools  at 
all,  than  to  have  them  at  the  expense  of  domestic 
and  neighbourhood  tranquillity.  But  such  a  day 
may  come,  (indeed  an  attentive  observer  may  al- 
ready discern  its  dawn,)  unless  our  legislatures 
will  consent  to  introduce  religious  instruction  into 
the  public  schools  in  a  manner  and  measure  ac- 
ceptable to  all. 

That  this  can  be  done  I  entertain  a  cheering 
confidence.  If  there  are  formidable  difficulties 
in  the  way,  they  are  not  intrinsic  but  relate  entu'ely 
to  popular  prejudice  which  I  would  hope,  by 
proper  exertions  on  the  part  of  those  who  have 
the  control  of  public  opinion,  may  be  set  right. 
I  am  fully  persuaded  from  experience  that  those 
teachers  who  are  disposed  to  do  so,  will  find  it 
perfectly  easy  to  avoid  all  proselyting  efforts, 
whilst  I  also  believe  that  a  system  of  checks  and 
safeguards  may  be  adopted  which  must  render 
the  exposure  of  those  who  might  attempt  to  take 
undue  advantages  of  the  trust  reposed  in  them 
both  certain  and  speedy. 

To  accomphsh  this  all  that  would  be  necessary 


226  PnACTICABILlTY  OF 

is  that  the  course  of  instruction  be  prescribed  by 
the  State,  the  parts  of  the  Bible  to  be  taught  being 
marked  out,  and  the  particular  lesson  for  each 
day  of  the  year  being  designated,  (all  of  which  is 
perfectly  easy;)  that  the  candidates  be  made  fa- 
miliar with  this  course  whilst  learning  their  pro- 
fession ;  and  that  this  exercise  of  the  school  be  an 
open  one,  having  a  stated  hour  assigned  it,  when  all 
the  neighbourhood  shall  have  a  standing  invitation 
to  attend.  With  such  an  arrangement  the  detec- 
tion of  unfaithfulness  must  be  next  to  unavoid- 
able, and  the  easy  and  obvious  remedy  would  be 
that  complaint  be  lodged  with  the  Board  of 
Trustees  or  other  controllers  of  the  school.  Only 
let  a  situation  be  made  desirable  by  the  offer  of 
liberal  pay,  (as  should  always  be  the  case,)  and 
any  teacher  whom  moral  principle  might  not  keep 
straight,  will  be  found  to  love  his  purse  full  as  well 
as  he  loves  his  sect,  and  therefore  will  do  his  duty 
from  motives  of  policy  if  not  for  conscience  sake. 
I  cannot  entertain  a  doubt  that  our  legislatures 
will  in  time  be  required  by  the  urgency  of  our  po- 
litical condition,  to  take  the  ground  which  is  here 
suggested.  Indeed,  there  is  animating  reason  to 
believe  that  they  will  be  sustained  in  doing  so,  at 
a  much  earlier  period  than  the  friends  of  religion 
could  have  ventured  to  anticipate.  The  bold  and 
noble  stand  taken  by  the  legislature  of  New-York 
in  January  last,  (1838,)  has  revived  the  hopes  and 
infused  fresh  courage  into  the  minds  of  those  who 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  SS? 

believe  that  the  safety  and  welfare  of  our  country 
are  essentially  dependent  on  the  prevalence  of  a 
religious  morality  and  a  moral  religion. 

When  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  the  representa- 
tives of  this  great  State  at  one  and  the  same  ses- 
sion doubled  the  amount  of  the  public  money  for 
the  purpose  of  improving  the  education  given  in  the 
common  schools,  making  it  four  hundred  thousand 
dollars  instead  of  two  hundred  thousand  !  and  in 
reply  to  the  petition  of  sundry  persons  praying 
that   all   rehgious  exercises   and  the  use  of  the 
JBible  might  be  prohibited  in  the  public  schools, 
decided  by  a  vote  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  one 
to  one,  that  the  request  of  the  petitioners  be  not 
granted  !  !   we  are  encouraged  to  hope  that  the 
union  of  intellectual  and  moral  education,  of  re- 
ligion and  morality,  of  the  Bible  and  the  ordinary 
school-book,*  which  is  required  by  the  necessities 
and  interests   of  the   State  no  less  than  of  the 
Church,  is   soon  to  be   illustrated  in  the  public 
schools  of  that  member  of  our  confederacy,  whose 
"  system"  is  becoming  increasingly  an  object  of 
imitation  in    all  the   rest.      The  "  Report"  pre- 
sented by  the  Hon.  Daniel  D.  Barnard  on  the  oc- 
casion referred  to,  is  one  which  does  honour  to  the 
heart  and  head  of  him  who  penned  it ;  and  its  tri- 
umphant   adoption  will  signalize   the  session  at 

*  It  must  not  be  inferred  from  this  expression  that  I  am  in  fa- 
vour of  having  the  Bible  used  as  a  mere  school  or  reading-book  : 
I  have  already  expressed  an  opinion  to  the  contrary. 


228  PRACTICABILITY   OP 

which  it  was  presented  as  the  commencement  of 
a  new  era  in  the  moral  history  of  our  country. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  copying  a  portion  of  this 
report  for  the  purpose  of  corroborating  the  doc- 
trines of  this  volume  by  the  noble,  unequivocal  and 
almost  unanimous  testimony  of  the  representatives 
of  the  most  powerful  member  of  our  political 
union.  The  report  closes  in  the  following  man- 
ner: — 

"  Moral  instruction  is  quite  as  important  to  the 
object  had  in  view  in  popular  education,  as  intel- 
lectual instruction  ;  it  is  indispensable  to  that  ob- 
ject. But  to  make  such  instruction  effective,  it 
should  be  given  according  to  the  best  code  of 
morals  known  to  the  country  and  the  age  ;  and 
that  code  it  is  universally  conceded,  is  contained 
in  the  Bible.  Hence  the  Bible,  as  containing  that 
code,  so  far  from  being  arbitrarily  excluded  from 
our  schools,  ought  to  be  in  common  use  in  them. 
"  Keeping  all  the  while  in  view  the  object  of  popu- 
lar education,  —  the  necessity  of  fitting  the  people 
by  moral  as  well  as  intellectual  discipline  for  self- 
government, —  no  one  can  doubt  that  any  system 
of  instruction  which  overlooks  the  training  and 
informing  of  the  moral  faculties  must  be  wretch- 
edly and  fatally  defective.  Crime  and  intellectual 
cultivation  merely,  so  far  from  being  dissociated 
in  history  and  statistics,  are  unhappily  old  acquain- 
tances and  tried  friends.  To  neglect  the  moral 
powers  in  education,  is  to  educate  not  quite  half 


XA.TIONAL  EDUCATION.  229 

the  man.  To  cultivate  the  intellect  only,  is  to 
unhinge  the  mind  and  destroy  the  essential  balance 
of  the  mental  powers ;  it  is  to  light  up  a  recess 
only  the  better  to  show  how  dark  it  is.  And  if 
this  is  all  that  is  done  in  popular  education,  then 
nothing,  literally  nothing,  is  done  towards  creating 
and  establishing  public  virtue,  and  forming  a  moral 
people. 

"  The  moral  powers  then  must  be  informed  and 
cultivated  in  our  schools.  Children  must  be  in- 
structed in  moral  truth  and  be  taught  to  feel  ha- 
bitually the  force  of  moral  obligation  ;  and  to  do 
this  according  to  the  best  standard,  the  use  of  the 
Bible  for  that  purpose  cannot  be  dispensed  with. 
So  it  is  believed  that  the  great  majority  of  our 
people  think ;  and  wherever  they  think  so  in  the 
towns,  they  will  of  course  by  their  proper  officers, 
order  and  direct  the  course  of  instruction  accord- 
ingly, o 
"  Nor  is  it  discovered  what  good  right  the  petition* 
ers,  or  any  minority  of  persons,  have  to  object  to 
the  use  of  this  book  for  the  purpose  indicated, 
as  an  approved  and  standard  work  for  instruction 
in  morals,  because  their  opinion  of  its  merits  in 
this  respect  may  differ  from  that  of  the  majority. 
If  the  minority  may  rule  in  regard  to  the  use  of 
this  book  and  forbid  the  teaching  of  its  code,  they 
may  do  the  same  thing  in  regard  to  any  other 
book,  or  any  other  subject.  They  may  insist  that 
the  Christian  code  of  morals  shall  be  exchanged 
20 


230  PKACnCABILITY   OP 

for  that  of  the  Brahmins,  or  turn  the  schools  over 
to  Plato  or  Aristotle,  or  Seneca,  or  Mahomet. 
They  may  prescribe  the  entire  course  of  studies, 
instead  of  leaving  it  to  be  done  by  those  to  whom 
the  law  and  the  voice  of  the  majority  have  con- 
fided the  power. 

"  Nor  again,  is  it  discovered  that  the  practice  of 
teaching  morals  according  to  the  Christian  code, 
and  using  the  Bible  for  that  purpose,  the  majority 
adopting  it,  is  any  infringement  whatever  on  the 
religious  rights  and  liberty  of  any  individual.  To 
teach  Christian  morals,  referring  to  the  Bible  both 
for  the  principles  and  for  their  illustrations,  is  a 
widely  different  thing  from  teaching  what  is  under- 
stood to  be  a  Christian  religion.  Religion  is  a  mat- 
ter between  a  man  and  his  God.  It  has  reference  to 
the  worship  of  the  Supreme  Being,  and  the  mode 
of  such  worship ;  and  has  relation  to  a  future  state 
of  existence,  and  the  retributions  of  that  future 
state  ;  and  it  is  concerned  with  creeds  and  articles 
of  faith.  Now,  religious  freedom  consists  in  a 
man's  professing  and  enjoying  what  religious  faith 
he  pleases,  or  in  the  right  of  rejecting  all  religions  ; 
and  this  freedom  is  in  no  degree  invaded  when 
the  morals  of  the  Bible  are  taught  in  public 
schools. 

"  And  if  the  Christian  religion,  as  a  system  of 
faith,  whether  according  to  one  creed  or  another 
creed,  according  to  the  notions  of  one  sect,  or 
of  another  sect,  is  not  taught  in  these  schools,  then 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  231 

of  course  there  can  be  no  pretence  that  this  reli- 
gion is  in  this  way  supported  by  the  State.  Your 
committee  in  common,  they  believe,  with  nearly 
the  whole  body  of  their  fellow-citizens,  would  re- 
gard it  as  the  deepest  of  calamities,  if  religion, — 
the  Christian  religion,  —  should  fall  under  the  pro- 
tection and  patronage  of  political  power.  That 
religion  is  in  its  nature  free  ;  it  cannot  take  sup- 
port from  law  without  losing  its  lustre  and  its 
purity ;  it  is  in  its  very  essence  and  spirit  to  de- 
mand none  but  a  voluntary  worship,  and  allow 
none  but  a  voluntary  support.  But  we  cannot 
discern  that  it  is  in  the  least  danger  of  injury 
from  any  public  support  in  the  schools  on  account 
of  the  use  which  may  be  made  there  of  the  Bible 
as  a  text  or  a  class-book.  ;g 

"  Your  committee  have  now  given  the  reason 
why  they  think  the  Christian  code  of  morals 
should  be  taught  in  our  schools  as  an  indispensa- 
ble part  of  our  system  of  popular  instruction ;  and 
why  the  Bible  should  be  employed  for  that  pur- 
pose. There  are  other  reasons  why  it  is  exceed- 
ingly desirable  and  important  that  this  book  should 
be  generally  used  in  our  schools  and  seminaries, 
instead  of  being  arbitrarily  excluded  as  these  pe- 
titioners require.  But  we  do  not  deem  it  neces- 
sary to  detail  those  reasons.  If  the  Bible  should 
be  studied  for  its  moral  principles,  it  should  be 
studied  also  as  a  history  and  as  a  classic.  As  an 
authentic  narrative  of  events,  the  most  extraordi- 
nary and  the  most  interesting  any  where  recorded 


232  PRACTICABILITY  OF 

of  our  race,  it  is  invaluable  ;  and  there  is  nothing, 
and  can  be  nothing,  to  supply  its  place. 

"  And  such  is  the  nature  and  antiquity  of  its 
stoiy,  that  no  education  in  this  department  of 
knowledge,  not  the  most  elementary,  can  be  had 
without  some  acquaintance  with  its  contents.  And 
then  as  a  classic,  if  generally  employed  as  such, 
it  would  certainly  supply  a  want  which  no  other 
book  can.  The  faithful  and  critical  study  of  the 
English  language,  in  its  purity,  by  the  youth  of 
our  country,  is  immensely  important ;  and  it  is 
confidently  believed,  that  no  where  can  there  be 
found  in  the  same  compass,  half  as  many  speci- 
mens of  beautiful  and  pure  Anglo-Saxon  language, 
as  in  the  Bible.  And  we  think  it  may  be  safely 
said  that,  since  the  publication  of  the  present 
English  Bible,  as  translated  under  the  orders  of 
King  James,  no  writer  or  speaker  in  that  lan- 
guage can  be  named,  who  has  acquired  any  just 
celebrity  for  the  simplicity,  strength,  and  beauty 
of  his  diction,  who  has  not  been  mainly  indebted 
to  that  book  for  his  excellence  in  that  particular. 
Mr.  Fox  declared,  that  if  he  was  ever  eloquent,  it 
was  because  he  had  faithfully  studied  the  book  of 
Job. 

"  In  conclusion,  your  committee  would  only 
say  that,  while  after  the  most  attentive  examina- 
tion, they  have  not  been  able  to  find,  in  the  me- 
morial before  them,  one  fair  ground  of  complaint, 
they  have  been,  and  are,  deeply  impressed  with 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  233 

many  and  weighty  considerations  which  urge  on 
all  who  value  the  interests  of  education,  the  inter- 
ests of  morals,  and  the  interests  of  the  country 
and  of  mankind,  the  indispensable  necessity  of 
preserving  to  the  people  the  right  to  employ  the 
Bible  as  a  means  of  invaluable  secular  instruc- 
tion, in  all  the  public  schools  and  seminaries,  to 
which  they  may  have  occasion  to  resort. 

"  Complaints  of  whatever  is  valuable  in  civil 
society  will  always  be  made.  Some  who  make 
them  are  honest,  but  mistaken  ;  more  act  under 
the  merest  delusion;  a  few  are  speculative  and 
reckless.  Men  of  this  latter  class  are  apt  to  be 
ingenious,  because  restless  and  dissatisfied.  Their 
work  is  to  destroy,  but  never  build.  The  moral 
restraints  of  society  sit  gallingly  upon  them.  They 
take  the  name  of  liberty  on  their  lips,  but  they 
mean  license  and  confusion.  With  them  nothing 
is  sacred,  nothing  is  venerable,  and  nothing  is 
safe.  And  of  late  their  boldness  and  strength  seem 
to  have  increased.  Their  spirit  is  seen  every 
where.  It  is  busy  with  political  institutions,  with 
religious  obligations,  with  social  forms  and  domes* 
tic  ties ;  busy  to  weaken,  to  invalidate,  and  to  un- 
dermine. 

"  They  are  not  supposed  to  be  numerous  even 
yet ;  but  they  have  followers,  who  are  followers 
because  they  do  not  know  who  they  are  who 
lead  them,  or  whither  they  are  led.  This  state 
of  things  demands  undoubtedly  great  firmness  on 
20* 


234  PRACTICABILITY  OP 

the  part  of  those  who  would  sustain  and  preserve 
what  is  valuable  in  our  social  and  political  forms. 
And  it  demands  as  much  moderation  as  firmness. 
We  would  always  hear ;  we  would  always  con- 
sider ;  and  we  would  always  reply  only  by  argu- 
ment and  by  appeals  to  reason  and  to  truth.  It 
is  in  this  way  that  the  committee  have  intended 
to  meet  the  complaints  of  these  memorialists  ;  and 
with  what  success  they  have  done  so,  must  now 
be  left  to  the  judgement  of  the  house  and  of  the 
country. 

"  The  committee  recommend  to  the  house  the 
adoption  of  the  following  resolution  : 

*^  Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  memorialists 
be  not  granted." 

V  Having  thus  expressed  my  views  as  to  what  I 
do  not  mean  by  "  religious  education,"  I  shall  in  a 
very  few  words  state  the  meaning  which  I  do  at- 
tach to  this  expression. 

By  "  religious  education,"  then,  I  mean  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  moral  part  of  our  nature,  the  regu- 
lation of  the  will  and  the  affections,  of  the  senti- 
ments and  conduct,  in  a  word,  the  formation  of  the 
character  by  the  rules  laid  down,  and  the  motives 
presented  in  the  inspired  volume.  Infinite  wis- 
dom, and  I  may  add.  Divine  authority,  has  given 
the  Bible  for  this  purpose,  to  be  used  by  adults  for 
themselves,  but  by  parents  for  their  children,  as  is 
clearly  intimated  by  the  only  direction  given  in 
its  pages  respecting  the  education  of  children, 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  235 

which  requires  parents  to  "  train  them  up  in  the 
nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,"  and  by  the 
only  command  expressly  addressed  to  children 
which  bids  them  "  honour  their  father  and  mother," 
and  "  obey  their  parents." 

In  the  view  of  God,  the  whole  of  moral  educa- 
tion is  provided  for  hy  enjoining  it  on  parents  to 
form  the  character  of  their  children  upon  the  very 
same  principles  hy  which  they  are  required  to 
regulate  their  own  conduct.  The  parent  in  direct- 
ing is  not  to  be  guided  hy  his  own  will,  nor  hy  the 
opinions  of  the  world,  but  is  to  "speak  as  the 
oracles  of  God ;"  and  the  child  in  complying  is  to 
be  determined  by  the  consideration  that  God  has 
bidden  him,  and  is  thus  to  be  brought  at  the  outset 
of  his  immortal  career  under  the  influence  and 
guidance  of  the  very  same  motives  and  the  same 
precepts  by  which  he  is  to  regulate  his  opinions 
and  his  conduct  in  after  life,  and  in  the  eternal 
world. 

Let  the  task  of  the  parent,  as  here  stated,  be 
performed  in  every  common  school,  with  every  chUd, 
hy  every  teacher,  (as  the  temporary  substitute,  or 
rather  auxiliary  of  the  parent,)  and  we  shall  have 
a  state  of  things  which  will  come  up  perfectly  to 
the  idea  I  wish  to  convey  respecting  the  theory 
of  the  moral  education  which  our  political  circum- 
stances require,  and  which  should  be  aimed  at  by 
our  national  system,  however  far  it  may  have  to 
fall  short  in  the  execution.     There  is  not  a  moral 


236  PRACTICABILITY   OF 

duty,  personal,  social,  or  political,  which  is  not 
clearly  pointed  out  either  by  a  specific  precept 
or  by  a  general  principle  in  the  Bible ;  and  there 
are  no  motives  on  which  it  will  be  safe  to  rely  for 
the  regulation  of  the  conduct  of  society,  but  those 
which  influenced  the  actions  of  our  perfect  ex- 
emplar and  which  he  comprehensively  expresses 
when  he  says,  "I  came  not  to  do  mine  own  will, 
but  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me."  The  moment 
we  leave  this  ground,  we  get  into  the  obscure, 
uncertain,  devious  wake  of  expediency,  which  has 
given  birth  to  a  system  of  morals  the  best  of  whose 
fruits  is  likely  to  be  that  it  may  overthrow  itself ; 
for  I  very  much  mistake  the  signs  of  the  times 
if  we  are  not  about  to  discover  that  it  is  exceed- 
ingly inexpedient  to  make  expediency  the  basis  of 
our  system  of  national  morals. 

But  I  will  not  enter  again  upon  a  statement  of 
my  reasons  for  these  views.  These  have  been 
expressed  substantially  in  the  third  chapter  of  this 
volume. 

,WvNor  am  I  prepared  to  specify  the  exact  methods 
in  which  it  is  best  to  employ  the  Bible  in  our 
schools  for  the  purposes  of  moral  culture.  A  work 
that  shall  do  this  judiciously  is,  I  repeat,  one  of 
the  greatest  desiderata  in  practical  education. 

I  shall  conclude  this  section  by  remarking  with 
respect  to  the  improvement  of  intellectual  education^ 
which  is  one  of  the  objects  that  every  government 
should  keep  in  view  when  arranging  a  system  of 


NATIONAL    EDUCATION.  237 

public  instruction,  that  it  can  be  effected  only  by 
the  proper  "professional  education  of  teachers.  Let 
teachers  once  be  got  to  understand  their  business 
properly  and  education  in  all  respects  will  be  soon 
enough  improved.  Good  workmen,  with  fair  op- 
portunities, seldom  fail  to  produce  good  work. 


SECTION  III. 

The  nature,  that  is,  the  general  features  and  the 
spirit  of  the  education  which  may  subserve  our 
national  purposes  being  determined  by  govern- 
ment, a  suitable  theory  having  been  adopted,  the 
next  thing  is  to  provide  for  its  execution  ;  this 
leads  me  to  remark  that  the  first  step  which  should 
be  taken  towards  putting  in  operation  a  system  of 
national  education  in  the  United  States,  is  for  our 
legislatures,  each  for  its  own  state,  and  Congress 
for  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  several  ter- 
ritories, to  appoint  at  once  Superintendents  of 
public  instruction. 

The  only  way  in  which  the  establishment  of  a 
system  of  national  education  in  this  country  can 
be  brought  about,  is  by  the  co-operation  of  legis- 
lative effort  and  public  sentiment,  acting  and  re- 
acting on  each  other.  Hence  the  government 
should  aim  not  only  to  keep  up  with  public  opinion, 
but  to  go  a  little  ahead  of  it.     The  general  and 


238  PRACTICABILITY    OF 

enthusiastic  approbation  with  which  the  stand  taken 
by  the  New- York  legislature,  in  relation  to  the  use 
of  the  Bible  in  schools  as  well  as  in  regard  to  the 
increase  of  the  appropriation  from  the  public  funds 
for  the  benefit  of  common  schools,  has  been  re- 
ceived, demonstrates,  that  when  the  people  have 
once  become  deeply  interested,  a  legislature  may 
advance  as  fast  as  can  be  desirable  toward  per- 
fecting its  system  of  popular  instruction. 

It  being  true,  then,  that  one  of  the  ends  of  legis- 
lation should  be  to  exert  a  favourable  influence  on 
the  public  mind,  there  is  no  measure  better  cal- 
culated to  have  this  effect  (at  the  same  time  that 
it  is  requisite  for  the  judicious  and  energetic  exe- 
cution of  any  plans  which  may  be  adopted)  than 
the  appointment  of  Superintendents.  These  in 
all  cases  should  be  first  rate  men,  whose  pay  should 
be  in  proportion  to  their  worth,  and  such  as  would 
justify  them  in  devoting  their  undivided  attention 
to  their  official  duties. 

Government  has  scarcely  a  more  important 
office  in  its  gift ;  and  he  who  fills  it  properly  will 
find  it  impossible  for  him  to  do  much  else.  The 
duties  of  a  Superintendent  are  by  no  means  limit- 
ed to  making  out  reports.  This  is  the  smallest 
and  easiest  part  of  his  task.  He  should  become 
a  devoted  student  of  the  whole  subject  of  educa- 
tion, that  he  may  understand  its  nature  and  the  best 
methods  of  accomplishing  it.  If  he  be  ignorant  of 
these,  how  can  he  offer  intelligent  suggestions  to  the 


NATIONAL   EDUCATION.  239 

legislature,  or  aid  teachers  in  improving  the  process 
of  instruction  ?  He  must  also  feel  himself  charged 
with  the  duty  of  preparing  the  public  to  permit  a 
system  of  popular  education  to  be  adopted  where 
none  exists,  and  to  welcome  improvements  where 
one  is  already  established.  Could  no  otherends  than 
these  be  gained  by  the  appointment  of  Superin- 
tendents they  are  more  than  sufficient  to  justify 
the  requisite  expense.  Only  let  a  suitable  Secre- 
tary of  Education  be  appointed  at  once  by  each 
of  the  states  and  territories  of  the  Union,  and  I 
see  nothing  to  prevent  the  commencement  of  a 
system  of  national  education  throughout  the  coun- 
try in  two  or  three  years. 

I  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting  a  mode  of 
procedure,  which,  if  heartily  adopted,  would  re- 
lieve this  expectation  from  all  appearance  of  ex- 
travagance. I  would  have  a  proposition  made 
this  winter,  by  some  one  of  our  legislatures  to  all 
the  rest,  and  to  the  general  government,  that  a 
Superintendent  of  Popular  Education  be  forth- 
with appointed  in  every  state  and  territory ;  that 
a  National  Convention  be  held  in  New- York,  in 
the  month  of  May  next,  immediately  after  the 
anniversaries  of  the  various  benevolent  societies ; 
that  a  copious  list  of  subjects  for  consideration 
at  this  Convention  be  circulated  throughout  the  Un- 
ion; that  the  Superintendent  of  education  in  each 
state  be  instructed  to  attend  ;  and  that  from  five  to 
ten  (I  mention  so  large  a  number  that  the  attendance 


240  PBACTICABILITT  OF 

of  one  or  more  may  be  certain,)  respectable  citi- 
zens be  requested,  by  nomination,  to  be  present 
to  aid  him ;  that  a  general  invitation  be  given  to 
all  friends  of  education,  whether  in  or  out  of  the 
United  States,  to  attend  and  especially  to  go  pre- 
pared  to  give  their  views  on  some  of  the  topics 
embraced  in  the  circular  above  alluded  to  ;  that 
the  Superintendents  be  authorized  to  employ  ste- 
nographers to  record  the  proceedings  of  the  Con- 
vention ;  that  the  Superintendents  be  directed  to 
remain,  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Convention, 
a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  enable  them  to  arrive 
at  definite  ideas  as  to  the  best  method  of  procedure 
in  their  respective  states ;  that  each  be  required  to 
draw  up  a  report  to  the  legislature  which  he  rep- 
resents ;  and  that  these  reports,  together  with  so 
much  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention  as  the 
Superintendents  may  think  proper,  shall  be  pub- 
lished at  the  joint  expense  of  all  the  legislatures 
represented. 

I  cannot  conceive  of  any  measure  or  measures, 
so  well  calculated  at  once  to  excite  and  to  enlighten 
the  public  mind  on  this  most  important  of  all 
earthly  topics;  and  how  could  our  legislatures  be- 
come so  well  prepared  to  digest  a  system  of  edu- 
cation accommodated  to  their  respective  wants 
as  by  thus  availing  themselves  of  the  united  wis- 
dom and  experience  of  the  entire  Union  ;  and  I 
may  add,  too,  without  extravagance,  of  the  civilized 
world  ?  for  if  our  shores  are  annually  visited  by 


NATIONAL    EDUCATION.  241 

European  philanthropists,  who  come  of  their  own 
accord  or  are  sent  to  study  our  institutions,  might 
we  not  expect  that  at  such  a  convention  for  such 
purposes,  (purposes  of  common  interest  to  the 
entire  family  of  man,)  and  when  invited  in  the 
name  of  our  thirty  Republics,  some  at  least  would 
attend  and  bring  with  them  the  rich  stores  of  infor- 
mation they  possess  in  regard  to  education? 

At  such  a  convention  as  that  proposed,  the  great 
principles  which  should  regulate  the  structure  and 
management  of  common  school  systems  every 
where,  might  be  ascertained  and  settled  ;  each  por- 
tion of  the  Union  might  become  accurately  ac- 
quainted with  the  condition  of  things  in  every 
other ;  local  difficulties  might  be  stated  and  re- 
moved ;  the  great  danger  of  too  strict  imitation 
might  he  guarded  against ;  information  might  be 
gathered,  or  useful  hints  elicited  as  to  the  best 
method  of  raising  and  distributing  money,  as  to  the 
education  of  teachers,  the  formation  of  school  dis- 
tricts, the  structure  of  school-houses,  the  studies 
proper  for  common  schools,  the  best  text  books, 
and  in  short,  the  entire  principles  and  machinery 
of  a  system  of  public  education. 

By  the  adoption  of  a  plan  like  this,  the  great 
evils  and  dangers  of  detached  and  isolated  ef- 
forts might  be  avoided,  and  so  much  of  uniforai- 
ity  be  introduced  into  all  our  systems  as  would 
be  prudent  and  attainable ;  in  other  words,  a  fair 
opportunity  would  be  afforded  of  devising  a  sys- 
21 


242  PRACTICABILITV    OP 

tem  which,  with  a  wise  and  due  regard  to  local 
peculiarities,  would  still  be  worthy  of  the  dignified 

title  of  A  SYSTEM  OF  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

Is  inquiry  made  as  to  the  expense  attending 
such  a  convention?  If  we  must  resort  to  pe- 
cuniary arguments  in  this  case,  they  will  be 
found  to  be  triumphantly  in  favour  of  the  plan 
proposed.  The  expense  need  not  exceed  six  or 
eight  hundred  dollars  to  any  State  or  Territory, 
viz.  two  hundred  dollars  to  defray  the  travelling 
expenses  of  the  Superintendent,  and  the  remain- 
der to  pay  the  printer  and  stenographer.  Now 
when  we  recollect  that  to  proceed  intelligently  in 
framing  and  managing  a  system  of  public  educa- 
tion, each  legislature  must  inform  itself  of  what 
has  been  done  by  others,  and  that  to  gain  a  very 
partial  knowledge  of  this  by  the  mission  of  an 
agent,  or  by  any  other  isolated  effort,  a  consider- 
able expenditure  of  money  is  necessary,  and  es- 
pecially when  we  bear  in  mind  the  costliness  of  a 
single  mistake  that  may  arise  from  erroneous  or 
imperfect  information,  we  cannot  avoid  the  con- 
clusion that  were  the  expense  of  giving  to  each 
State  and  Territory  in  the  Union  a  full  and  accu- 
rate acquaintance  with  the  real  state  of  things  in 
all  the  rest,  and  with  the  best  plan  for  itself  under 
its  peculiar  circumstances,  five  times,  nay,  a  hun- 
dred times  as  great  as  I  have  supposed  to  be  ne- 
cessary, it  would  be  economical  as  well  as  wise 
to  incur  it. 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  243 


What  a  noble  spectacle  would  be  afforded  by 
the  representatives  of  sixteen  millions  of  people 
deliberating  in  solemn  convention  about  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  culture  of  every  child  within 
their  territory  without  respect  to  its  parentage 
or  circumstances,  and  about  the  best  method  of 
employing  the  powerful  agency  of  education  to 
preserve  and  to  perpetuate  those  precious  institu- 
tions to  which  the  eyes,  and  in  no  small  degree 
the  hopes,  of  the  civilized  world  have  been  di- 
rected !  and  when  we  reflect  on  the  dependence 
of  legislation  upon  the  popular  will,  how  vast  and 
healthy  must  be  the  impulse  which  would  thereby 
be  given  to  the  cause  of  popular  instruction 
throughout  our  country  !  By  a  judicious  distribu- 
tion of  the  copies  of  the  proceedings  of  convention, 
the  Superintendents  would  find  it  easy  during 
their  tours  through  their  respective  States  to  enlist 
the  press,  the  pulpit,  and  "  the  stump,"  heartily  and 
intelligently,  in  favour  of  their  cause  ;  and  with 
such  auxiliaries  it  is  impossible  that  success  should 
not  attend  their  efforts. 

I  know  of  no  other  plan  than  that  suggested  by 
which  our  governments  can  so  effectually  bring  to 
their  aid  the  great  engine  of  public  opinion  ;  and 
if  the  results  of  employing  this  expedient  be  not 
vastly  overrated,  it  is  clear  that  by  resorting  to  it 
for  two  or  three  years  in  succession,  a  system  of 
national  education  adapted  to  the  United  States 


244  pftACTICABILITY  OF 

might  not  only  be  commenced,  but  in  a  good  de- 
gree matured. 

After  determining  the  kind  of  education  to  be 
given,  and  appointing  agents  who  shall  prepare 
the  people  to  receive  it,  the  next  step  to  be  taken 
by  a  legislature  is  to  provide  teachers  in  sufficient 
numbers,  who  shall  be  qualified  to  educate  the 
children  of  the  country  in  the  way  desired  by  the 
government. 

The  best  method  of  effecting  this  most  desirable 
object,  is  a  subject  which  we  are  just  beginning 
to  study  in  the  United  States.  It  is  a  question 
which  requires  the  united  wisdom  of  the  nation  to 
determine,  and  the  settlement  of  which  alone 
would  be  a  sufficient  reward  for  the  expense  in- 
cident to  the  holding  a  national  convention  on  the 
plan  proposed,  were  there  not  another  argument 
in  its  favour. 

What  I  have  to  say  upon  this  subject  I  throw 
out  merely  in  the  way  of  suggestion,  as  it  is  one 
upon  which  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  come  to 
a  settled  opinion. 

The  first  thought  that  naturally  arises  in  relation 
to  the  best  method  of  preparing  teachers  is,  that 
they  should  be  formed  or  educated  just  as  most 
other  artists  are  educated,  viz  :  by  practising 
under  the  direction  of  some  experienced  guide. 
Why  may  not  the  plan  of  apprenticeship  with  a 
view  to  acquiring  the  art  of  teaching,  be  as  effec- 
tual as  it  is  with  reference  to  any  other  business, 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  245 

Since  all  that  is  necessary  to  make  a  good  teacher 
is,  that  he  shall  practise  teaching  under  a  good 
teacher  ? 

A  threefold  answer  must  be  given  to  this  ques- 
tion. In  the  first  place,  the  business  of  instruction 
is  so  poorly  paid,  that  there  is  very  little  induce- 
ment for  young  men  to  go  to  the  expense  of  study- 
ing it  as  a  profession  ;  and  then  there  is  no  occasion 
for  this,  as  any  one  who  wishes  to  teach  can  readily 
obtain  employment  without  the  least  experience 
or  training ;  and,  lastly,  were  both  these  difficul- 
ties out  of  the  way,  we  have  not  good  schools,  in 
sufficient  numbers,  which  would  serve  as  nurseries 
for  teachers.  It  would  scarcely  ever  be  convenient 
to  have  more  than  three  or  four  apprentices  in  any 
one  school ;  therefore  the  model  schools  needed 
on  this  principle,  would  be  at  least  one  third  as 
numerous  as  the  teachers  we  wished  to  form.  It 
is  necessary  to  throw  out  these  ideas,  since  there 
are  some  who  are  opposed  to  establishing  semina- 
ries for  educating  teachers,  because  from  analogy 
it  seems  unnecessary.  Under  existing  circum- 
stances, however,  I  fear  there  is  but  little  prospect 
of  obtaining  any  thing  like  a  supply  of  qualified 
teachers  in  any  other  way. 

Respecting  the  best  mode  of  organizing  a  school 
for  teachers,  public  opinion  is  unsettled.  Some 
think  a  college  the  best  place  ;  and  that,  in  addition 
to  the  usual  professorships,  the  legislature  should 
endow  one  for  this  purpose.  But  this  proposition 
21* 


246  PRACTICABILITY   OF 

almost  always  emanates  from  a  wish  to  add  to  the 
consequence  of  a  favourite  institution,  to  which  the 
department  for  teachers  is  chiefly  intended  to  be 
an  appendage  and  a  prop.  Besides,  a  college  is 
not  the  place  in  which  to  learn  to  teach  a  common 
scliool :  the  subjects  taught  are  not  those  which 
the  candidate  would  have  to  teach,  nor  could  he 
have  those  opportunities  of  practising  which  are 
indispensable. 

Others  are  in  favour  of  using  the  academies  for 
this  purpose.  This  is  much  the  better  plan  of  the 
two,  but  there  are  serious  objections  to  it  also. 
There  is  reason  to  fear  lest  in  these,  as  in  the  col- 
leges, the  teachers'  department  would  be  an  object 
of  secondary  consequence. 

But  that  we  may  prosecute  this  discussion  to 
greater  advantage,  let  us  inquire,  for  a  moment, 
what  are  the  requisites  for  a  good  professional 
school  for  teachers  ?  We  shall  be  at  once  directed 
to  a  correct  answer  to  this  question  by  considering 
another,  viz :  what  is  a  teacher  expected  to  do 
when  he  takes  charge  of  a  school  ?  The  whole 
of  his  task  consists  of  three  items :  he  has  to  im- 
part knowledge  to  children  ;  to  prescribe  for 
them  such  methods  of  practising  as  will  form  good 
habits,  intellectual  and  moral ;  and  he  has  to  gov- 
ern them.  These  three  then,  —  instruction,  men- 
tal and  moral  practice,  and  discipline,  —  are  the 
duties  for  which  he  has  to  fit  himself,  and  they 
furnish  an  infallible  criterion  by  which  to  deter- 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  247 

mine  the  essential  features  of  the  professional 
school  in  which  he  is  to  qualify  himself  for  dis- 
charging them.  It  is  clear  that  this  must  be  so 
organized  as  to  afford  him  an  opportunity  to  ac- 
quire the  knowledge  he  may  have  to  communi- 
cate, and  to  practise  teaching  and  governing,  that 
he  may  be  able  to  learn  the  art  of  doing  so.  These 
are  the  indispensable  elements  of  a  good  school 
for  teachers,  and  that  institution  is  essentially 
faulty  when  either  of  these  is  wanting.  > 

Being  thus  furnished  with  a  test,  let  us  apply  it 
to  academies.  In  regard  to  the  first  particular 
they  may  answer  very  well.  They  give  such  a 
knowledge  as  a  common  school  teacher  wants. 
Some  of  the  branches,  it  is  true,  rise  above  what 
he  may  have  occasion  to  teach,  but  so  much  the 
better,  for  every  instructor  ought  to  know  a  good 
deal  more  than  he  shall  have  to  impart.  In  rela- 
tion to  the  two  last  particulars,  however,  they 
are  not  so  suitable.  I  doubt  if  the  requisite  oppor- 
tunities of  pracizce,  both  in  teaching  and  governing, 
can  be  afforded  to  a  sufficient  extent,  where  the 
professional  department  is  considered  to  be  of 
subordinate  importance  to  the  academy  proper. 
This,  however,  is  being  made  a  matter  of  experi- 
ment by  those  (I  mean  in  New- York  where  eight 
academies  are  employed  in  this  way,)  who  are 
qualified  to  judge,  and  whose  recent  spirit  in  be- 
half of  education  makes  it  certain,  that  if  it  shall 


248  PRACTICABILITY  OP 

not  be  found  to  answer,  they  will  find  out  some- 
thing better. 

Prof.  J.  O.  Taylor,  of  New- York,  has  recently  set 
in  operation  a  plan  which  promises  much  good.  He 
announced  by  advertisement  in  the  spring,  that 
if  fifty  young  men  would  come  forward,  he  would 
lecture  to  them  for  a  given  period,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  time  find  them  situations  in  which  they 
should  have  better  pay  than  teachers  usually  re- 
ceive. His  class  was  immediately  made  up,  and 
he  has  already  made  engagements  for  a  number 
of  them  with  schools  whose  supporters  are  willing 
to  give  them  higher  wages  than  they  have  been 
accustomed  to  give  to  others,  because  of  the  prcb- 
ahilitij  that  they  will  he  better  teachers. 

I  would  here  take  the  liberty  to  ask,  why  may 
not  this  plan  in  an  expanded  farm  be  put  in  ope- 
ration in  all  our  cities  and  larger  towns  ?  Why 
may  not  a  faculty  be  formed,  (after  the  plan  of 
medical  school  faculties,)  consisting  of  some  three 
or  four  of  the  ablest  teachers  in  a  city,  each  of 
whom,  beside  lecturing  to  the  candidates,  shall 
take  a  portion  of  them  daily  into  his  school,  and 
add  a  species  of  practical  illustration  similar  to 
that  afforded  by  the  clinical  lectures  of  the  medical 
professor  ?  In  this  way,  twenty  or  more  respect- 
able Normal  schools  might  be  at  once  commenced 
in  the  United  States ;  and  such  is  the  demand  for 
teachers,  there  is  no  fear  we  shall  have  too  many. 

Upon  this  plan  the  essential  requisites  of  a  per- 


NATIONAL    EDUCATION.  249 

feet  school  will  be  but  imperfectly  complied  with, 
it  is  true  ;  but  this  perhaps  must  necessarily  be  the 
case  with  any  other  than  that  which  is  the  natural 
plan  of  making  teachers,  viz.  the  serving  an  ap- 
prenticeship to  the  business  under  the  direction  of 
a  skilful  and  experienced  master.  So  soon  as 
good  schools  shall  have  become  sufficiently  nu- 
merous, and  the  prospects  of  better  pay  he  held  out 
to  instructers,  we  shall  be  at  no  loss  for  nurseries 
or  for  teachers  either. 

It  is  quite  certain,  however,  that  in  any  event. 
Normal  schools  of  a  high  order,  conducted  by  sev- 
eral professors  of  distinguished  ability,  will  still 
be  needed  to  meet  the  wants  of  those  who  shall 
desire  to  excel  in  their  profession.  And  why 
may  not  such  an  institution  or  institutions  be  at 
once  established  by  every  state  in  the  Union  ?  It 
should  never  be  forgotten,  that  to  improve  educa- 
tion, is  just  now  an  object  of  greater  moment  in 
the  United  States  than  to  spread  it ;  and  there 
is  no  expedient  so  likely  to  effect  this,  as  the  crea- 
tion of  schools,  the  possession  of  whose  diploma 
would  be  at  once  a  matter  of  pride,  an  indication 
of  real  merit,  and  a  passport  to  immediate  and 
profitable  employment.  Only  let  such  schools  be 
founded,  and  the  experience  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession justifies  the  expectation  that  a  large  pro- 
portion of  those  who  are  now  engaged  in  the  bu- 
siness of  teaching,  would  be  anxious,  or  be  con- 
strained (in  order  to  maintain  their  ground,)  to 


230  PRACTICABILITY   OP 

attend  them  for  the  purpose  of  professional  im- 
provement. 

Before  I  leave  this  subject,  I  will  suggest  one 
other  plan  of  a  seminary  for  teachers,  which 
may  perhaps  be  adapted  to  the  present  state  of 
things  in  our  country.  So  long  as  the  business  of 
teaching  continues  to  be  in  so  low  a  condition, 
both  as  to  respectability  and  pay  as  it  is  at  pres- 
ent, it  cannot  be  expected  that  any  other  than 
poor  young  men  will  desire  to  fit  themselves  for 
it.  Hence,  any  plan  provided  for  their  education 
must  have  a  due  regard  to  economy,  and  if  possi- 
ble, afford  in  some  shape,  pecuniary  aid  to  candi- 
dates. 

To  effect  this  object  along  with  the  essential 
ends  of  a  school  for  teachers,  I  would  have  the 
seminary  located  in  the  country,  where  land  is 
cheap,  and  where  tlie  agricultural  labour  of  the 
students  might  help  to  lighten  the  expense  of  their 
board.  They,  of  course,  would  be  capable  of 
productive  manual  exertion.  I  have  been  told  by 
the  most  experienced  farmers,  that  twelve  or  fifteen 
young  men  working  day  about  in  sets,  could  easily 
provide  the  bread  and  meat  necessary  for  one 
hundred.  The  consumption  of  time  upon  this 
plan  would  not  be  more  to  each  than  one  day  in 
the  week,  which  is  usually  lost  by  giving  Satur- 
day as  a  day  of  recreation.  Let  an  able  Profes- 
sor be  employed,  and  let  the  number  of  pupils 
admitted  at  first  not  exceed  twenty  or  twenty-five. 


NATIONAL   EDUCATION.  251 

Let  the  whole  of  their  time  the  first  year,  or  the 
first  six  months,  be  spent  in  studying,  their  teach- 
er employing  himself  exclusively  in  giving  them 
instruction.  At  the  commencement  of  the  next 
term,  let  another  set  be  admitted,  who,  like  the 
former,  shall  spend  the  time  of  their  novitiate  en- 
tirely in  learning,  their  instruction  to  he  conducted 
chiejly  hy  the  class  preceding  them,  under  the  im- 
mediate professional  guidance  of  the  Superinten- 
dent, whose  time  would  be  employed  the  second 
and  subsequent  years,  partly  in  giving  fresh  in- 
struction to  the  upper  classes,  and  partly  in  direct- 
ing those  who  would  be  practising  with  a  view  to 
learning  how  to  teach. 

In  this  way  the  professional  training  of  any 
number  whatever  might  be  economically  provided 
for.  Two  Superintendents,  with  the  assistance  of 
the  upper  classes,  every  member  of  which  would 
be  an  usher,  could  do  much  more  than  conduct 
the  education  of  a  hundred  candidates. 

The  expense  attending  the  establishment  of  such 
a  seminary  need  not  be  very  great.  It  would  re- 
quire, perhaps,  a  hundred  acres  of  farming  land  ; 
a  supply  of  implements  of  husbandry  ;  a  sufficient 
number  of  cows  and  horses,  and  plain  buildings, 
—  such,  for  the  most  part,  as  the  students  would 
be  able  to  erect ;  the  whole  costing,  say  from  ten 
to  twenty  thousand  dollars.  The  support  of  such 
a  seminary  would,  after  two  or  three  years,  cost 
the  State  little  or  nothing,  since  it  would  be  per- 


252  PRACTICABILITY  OF 

fectly  reasonable  to  exact  of  the  graduates  a  mo- 
derate yearly  return,  for  as  many  years  after  they 
have  been  engaged  in  teaching  as  they  spent  at 
the  seminary,  and  which,  from  a  hundred  indivi- 
duals, would  be  amply  sufficient  to  defray  all  cur- 
rent expenses. 

The  trial  of  this  plan,  I  grant,  would  be  an  ex- 
periment ;  but  such,  it  seems  to  me,  all  plans  for 
the  education  of  teachers  must,  of  necessity,  be 
for  some  time  to  come.  The  interests  of  educa- 
tion, however,  imperatively  demand  that  some- 
thing be  done,  and  done  quickly,  to  effect  this 
most  important  object. 

But  it  may  be  said  it  will  be  of  no  use  to  educate 
teachers  unless  there  can  be  a  security  that  they 
will  follow  the  business  of  teaching  after  they  are 
educated.  This  I  admit ;  and  the  only  security 
society  can  have  on  this  score,  is  that  which  will 
be  furnished  by  the  offer  of  better  pay  than  is 
usually  allowed.  It  is  equally  the  dictate  of  wis- 
dom and  economy,  that  the  pay  of  teachers  be  so 
liberal  that  they  shall  not  have  any  inducement  to 
change  their  employment  ;  and  this  suggests 
another  practical  question  which  relates  to  the 
next  step,  in  the  natural  order  that  a  legislature 
should  take  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  sys- 
tem of  public  instruction,  viz  :  how  shall  the  requi- 
site funds  he  raised? 

I  have  already  expressed  my  views  at  large 
upon  this  point,  the  substance  of  which  amounts 


National  education.  253 

to  this,  that  the  means  of  education  ought  not  (if 
they  could)  to  be  obtained  from  a  fund  alone,  that 
they  cannot  be  obtained  from  taxation  alone,  and 
therefore  both  these  plans  should  be  united  pre- 
cisely as  is  done  in  the  State  of  New-York,  to  the 
income  from  which  may  be  added  when  neces- 
sary, the  proceeds  of  a  very  moderate  tuition  fee, 
exacted  indiscriminately  of  all  the  children  attend- 
ing school.  It  is  a  proposition  of  immense  imporr 
tance  to  the  interests  of  education,  that  its  support 
should  be  thrown  to  a  much  greater  extent  upon 
the  property  of  the  country  in  the  way  of  an  ad- 
valorem  levy,  and  thereby  leave  less  to  be  de- 
rived from  individual  contribution,  at  the  same 
time  that  the  income  be  sufficient  to  make  the  pub- 
lic schools  decidedly  good  by  the  employment  of 
able  teachers  at  liberal  wages. 


The  next  and  the  last  thing  to  be  done  by  a 
legislature  in  order  to  put  in  operation  a  system 
of  public  education,  is  to  induce  all  parents  to  send 
their  children  to  the  public  schools.  Some  of  the 
most  important  objects  of  national  education  must 
fail  of  accomplishment,  if,  after  having  determin- 
ed the  kind  of  education  to  be  given,  appointed 
Superintendents,  provided  able  teachers,  and  ob- 
tained the  means  of  paying  them,  a  large  propor- 
22 


m 


254  PRACTICABILITY    OF 


tion  of  the  children  of  the  nation  should  still  repair 
to  private  schools.     How  can  this  be  prevented  ? 

To  secure  the  attendance  of  all  the  children  of 
the  country  on  the  public  schools,  there  are  three 
classes  of  parents  that  must  be  conciliated  or 
operated  upon :  the  indifferent,  the  rich,  and  the 
religious. 

To  induce  those  parents  who  are  indifferent 
about  the  education  of  their  children,  to  send  them 
to  school,  a  very  certain  plan  will  be  to  tax  their 
property,  if  they  have  any,  and  to  bestow  the 
benefit  of  the  tax  on  others  if  they  will  not  permit 
their  children  to  enjoy  it.  If  they  be  poor,  the 
only  way  in  which  the  legislature  can  reach  them, 
is,  (by  the  improvement  of  education,)  to  make 
ignorance  so  disgraceful  that  public  sentiment 
operating  on  their  pride  will  constrain  them  to 
employ  that  industry,  and  practise  that  economy, 
which  alone  are  requisite  to  enable  the  poorest  in 
this  country  to  pay  so  small  a  tuition  fee  as  ought 
to  be  exacted  from  each  pupil. 

To  prevail  upon  the  rich,  or  those  whose  esti- 
mate of  the  worth  of  education  is  very  high,  to 
send  their  children  to  the  public  schools,  there  is 
but  one  possible  plan  that  can  or  ought  to  succeed, 
and  that  is,  to  make  the  public  schools  so  good  that 
they  can  have  no  reason  to  send  them  elsewhere. 
'  To  make  the  public  schools  acceptable  to  the 
more  refined  and  aspiring  part  of  the  community, 
and  thereby  prevent  the  drain  which  is  constantly 


NATION AI.    EDUCATION.  255 

going  on  from  the  public  to  the  private  schools, 
the  standard  of  education  in  the  former  must  be 
greatly  raised.  Let  the  intellectual  character  of 
these  schools  be  so  much  elevated  that  they  may 
not  be  easily  overshadowed  and  eclipsed  by  those 
of  a  select  description,  and  others  will  soon  cease 
to  have  existence.  The  public  schools,  like  the 
public  works  and  highways,  should  be  of  the  very 
best  kind.  If  government  have  a  right  to  take  the 
people's  money  at  all  for  the  support  of  schools, 
it  surely  has  the  right,  and  it  is  its  duty,  to  give 
them  good  ones.  If  the  government  cannot  man- 
age an  important  interest  better  than  the  people 
can  themselves,  why  take  it  out  of  their  hands  ? 
What  do  the  people  gain  by  paying  taxes  for  the 
maintenance  of  schools,  which,  when  established, 
are  often  so  indifferent,  that  the  better  part  of 
society  will  not  allow  their  children  to  frequent 
them? 

No  matter  what  the  pretext  under  which  gov- 
ernment assumes  the  control  of  education,  the 
obligation  is  imperative,  that  she  make  it  good.  Is 
it  to  produce  in  the  youth  of  the  country  a  uni- 
formity of  character,  adapted  to  our  social  institu- 
tions ?  Desirable  as  this  object  is,  it  may  be 
purchased  at  too  dear  a  price  ;  and  we  are  inclined 
to  think  it  is  so  if  it  be  achieved  by  making  edu- 
cation uniformly  had.  Is  it,  that  like  an  impartial 
parent,  showing  no  dislikes  to  some,  nor  favouritism 
to  others,  she  may  assemble  all  her  children  on  the 


2^6  PRACTICABIMTY  OP 

same  foundation,  regardless  of  distinctions  which 
prevail  at  home  ;  thus  cherishing,  in  early  life,  the 
republican  feeling  of  equality  ?  Then  she  fails  of 
her  object  most  egregiously,  when  she  drives  the 
children  of  what  aristocracy  we  have,  to  them- 
selves ;  and  this  she  certainly  does  by  making  her 
public  literary  institutions  so  indifferent  that  none 
but  the  poor  or  the  grovelling  will  accept  their 
benefits.  Is  it  that  she  may  secure  the  blessing 
of  education  to  all,  even  to  those  from  whom  the 
penury  or  selfishness  of  parents  would  withhold 
it  ?  Then  should  she  act  more  like  a  genuine 
benefactor  than  to  confer  donations  of  questionable 
value,  and  which,  to  those  of  finer  feelings,  and 
more  elevated  taste,  appear  like  the  mockery  of 
charity.  Is  it  that  by  making  the  people  strong  in 
knowledge  and  in  virtue,  she  may  fortify  herself 
against  decay  and  overthrow  ?  Then  certainly 
her  means  should  be  well  adapted  to  her  end.  In 
this  respect  pre-eminently  the  people  and  the 
government  have  but  a  common  interest,  so  that 
the  kind  of  education  (regardless  of  its  cost)  which 
is  best  for  the  one,  is  best  for  the  other  also. 

To  prevail  upon  the  religious  portion  of  our 
citizens  to  send  their  children  to  the  public  schools, 
it  is,  or  I  trust  soon  will  be,  indispensable  that 
the  government  make  them  in  the  best  sense 
"  schools  of  morals,**  schools  in  which  the  head 
shall  not  be  cultivated  at  the  expense  of  the  heart ; 
and  where   the   faithful  domestic  efforts  of  the 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION.  357 

parent  to  instil  good  principles  and  to  impress  good 
habits  shall  not  be  counteracted  by  the  contami- 
nating influences  of  corrupt  associates. 


Having  brought  to  a  conclusion  what  I  had  to 
say  respecting  the  nature,  necessity,  and  practica- 
bility of  a  system  of  national  education  suited  to 
the  United  States  ;  having  stated  what  I  conceive 
to  be  the  essential  features  of  suoh  a  system,  and 
pointed  out  the  legislative  steps  which  should  be 
taken  to  put  this  system  into  operation,  —  I  shall 
close  this  chapter  with  a  brief  recurrence  to  the 
fundamental  idea  so  prominently  referred  to  at  the 
commencement  of  my  remarks  upon  this  subject 
in  the  beginning  of  the  third  chapter,  viz  :  "  the 
dependent  relation  which  wise  and  effective  legis- 
lation, for  the  benefit  of  education  in  the  United 
States,  sustains  to  public  sentiment." 

From  the  evidence  adduced  in  the  previous 
parts  of  this  volume,  I  flatter  myself  there  is  no 
room  to  doubt  that  the  people  have  been  encour- 
aged to  trust  prematurely  and  too  much  to  legisla- 
tive eflfort  for  the  promotion  of  education,  whilst, 
as  has  been  shown,  legislation  from  the  very  na- 
ture of  things  depends  for  its  inception,  impulses, 
direction,  and  results,  upon  the  popular  will ; 
that  this  dependence  is  founded  in  forget! illness, 
if  not  in  a  mistake  as  to  the  nature  of  our  govern- 
22* 


258  PRACTICABILITY    OP 

ments  ;  that  originating  in  an  unfortunate  trans- 
position of  cause  and  effect,  its  existence  is  calcu- 
lated to  retard  the  formation  of  that  wholesome 
public  sentiment  which,  in  obedience  to  the  genius 
of  our  institutions,  is  an  indispensable  preliminary 
to  valuable  legislation  on  this  or  any  other  subject, 
and  that  governmental  action  will  not  only  com- 
mence just  when  the  people  choose,  but  in  its  na- 
ture, extent,  and  efficacy,  will  be  precisely  what 
the  people  wish  it,  and  no  more. 

It  is  a  distinguishing  feature  of  the  Massachu- 
setts system,  that  almost  every  thing  is  left  to  the 
people.  The  part  which  the  legislature  acts  in 
the  great  work  of  popular  education  is  compara- 
tively trifling  ;  and  it  is  a  most  instructive  fact, 
that  under  this  state  of  things  the  condition  of  the 
public  schools  is  far  more  healthy,  and  public  sa- 
tisfaction with  their  fruits  far  more  general,  than 
in  the  neighbouring  State  of  Connecticut,  where 
the  legislature  does  every  thing,  and  the  people 
next  to  nothing. 

We  have  been  relying  upon  the  legislatures  of 
some  of  our  States  for  nearly  two  centuries  ;  but 
what  progress  have  they  made  ?  It  is  alleged  by 
the  best  authorities,  that  in  some  instances  they 
have  even  retrograded  ;  and  one  of  their  own 
committees  has  declared  that  "  the  system  of  edu- 
cation, as  now  supported  by  the  provisions  of  law, 
has  but  little  changed  with  all  the  astonishing 
changes  which  half  a  centuiy  of  national  iade- 


NATIONAIi    EDUCATION.  259 

pendence  has  produced."  What  !  fifty  years 
elapsed,  and  no  improvement  in  those  systems  of 
free  schools  on  which  our  national  welfare  hangs ; 
and  which,  so  far  from  being  stationary,  because 
perfect  and  unimprovable,  are,  in  the  language  of 
the  same  committee,  "  not  such  as  they  ought  to 
be  ;  failing  most  essentially  of  accomplishing  the 
high  objects  for  which  they  were  intended  !"  As- 
suredly, under  such  circumstances,  longer  forbear- 
ance would  partake  of  criminality  as  well  as  folly. 

Pennsylvania  legislated  on  the  subject  forty 
years  and  more,  having  "  nearly  two  hundred 
laws  spread  over  the  journals,"  but  with  little  or 
no  effect,  till  some  of  her  citizens,  perceiving 
their  mistake,  set  about  the  work  of  arousing  pub- 
lic opinion  ;  the  almost  immediate  result  of  which 
has  been  the  adoption  of  a  wise  and  efficient 
school  system,  which  is  an  honour  and  a  blessing 
to  the  State.  U  o|<u 

Virginia,  too,  has  been  making  laws  almost  as 
long  as  Pennsylvania,  but  with  comparatively  tri- 
fling results  ;  and  Kentucky  has  done  her  full  share 
o^ paper  work,  but  without  a  particle  of  fruit,  until 
last  winter,  when  (the  people  having  become  deeply 
interested  in  the  subject,)  her  legislature  was  en- 
couraged to  adopt  a  system  which,  though  defec- 
tive in  not  affording  sufficiently  strong  incentives 
to  voluntary  taxation,  bids  fair  to  do  much  good 
through  the  wise  and  active  efforts  of  her  Super- 
intendent, the  Rev.  Mr.  Bullock. 


260  PRACTICABILITY  OF 

I  might  specify  the  same  of  many  other  States, 
in  none  of  which  can  legislation  become  efficient 
until  a  wholesome  state  of  public  sentiment  shall 
have  been  created.  This  is  the  true  basis  of  a 
system  of  national  education :  this  is  the  fountain, 
according  to  the  nature  of  whose  waters  the  stream 
which  issues  from  it  will  be  sweet  or  bitter,  whole- 
some or  injurious.  In  short,  every  thing  may  be 
done  for  the  cause  of  popular  instruction  with  the 
aid  of  public  opinion,  and  without  it  nothing. 

Only  let  a  large  and  enhghtened  sentiment  pre- 
vail among  the  people  as  to  the  value  and  neces- 
sity of  education,  and  instead  of  objecting,  they 
will  invite  taxation  for  its  support.  In  this  event, 
our  legislatures  will  easily  find  means  with  which 
to  command  the  services  of  able  teachers,  whilst 
the  prospect  of  respectable  and  well  paid  employ- 
ment will  attract  a  large  amount  of  educated  talent 
into  the  seminaries  founded  by  government  for 
the  professional  training  of  schoolmasters.  The 
result  of  all  will  be,  that  the  public  schools  will  be 
placed  upon  a  footing  to  compete  with  the  best 
private  institutions,  which,  being  shorn  of  their 
distinctive  advantages,  must  cease  to  interfere,  as 
they  now  do,  with  the  public  schools  ;  that  the 
entire  strength  of  a  neighbourhood  may  be  united 
in  the  support  of  one  good  school ;  and  that  the 
present  tendency  of  our  common  school  systems, 
to  create  one  set  of  schools  for  the  rich,  and  an 
inferior  set  for  the  poor,  dividing  society  into  the 
well  and  badly  educated  castes,  will  be  arrested. 


NATIONAIi  EDUCATION.  261 

There  are  numerous  and  cheering  indications 
that  the  importance  of  this  view  is  beginning  to 
be  felt  throughout  the  United  States.  That  mighty 
engine,  the  poHtical  press,  is  beginning  to  lend  its 
efforts  to  quicken  and  enlighten  public  sentiment. 

The  Courier  and  the  Traveller  of  Boston,  the 
Gazette  of  Salem,  the  Aurora  in  New-Hampshire, 
the  Providence  Journal,  the  American  and  the 
Journal  of  Commerce  in  New-York,  the  Albany 
Evening  Journal,  the  Newburgh  Telegraph,  the 
Cayuga  Patriot,  the  Newark  Daily  Advertiser, 
the  United  States  Gazette  of  Philadelphia,  the 
Jeffersonian  of  Michigan,  the  Baltimore  American, 
the  Madisonian  and  Intelligencer  of  Washington, 
the  Cincinnati  Chronicle,  the  Journal,  and  the  Ga- 
zette of  Louisville,  the  M aysville  Eagle,  the  Lex- 
ington Observer,  the  Lexington  Intelligencer,  the 
Russellville  Messenger,  the  Nashville  Republican, 
and  the  St.  Louis  Bulletin,  have  all  begun  to 
manifest  a  practical  interest  in  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation ;  and  doubtless  there  are  others  of  which 
the  author  has  no  knowledge. 

About  a  year  ago,  the  public  spirited  editors  of 
the  Louisville  Journal,  proposed  to  the  editors  of 
all  the  papers  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  that  they 
should  make  an  united  effort  to  awaken  and  inform 
the  pubHc  mind  upon  this  subject ;  and  why  may 
not  this  proposition  be  revived  and  extended  to 
every  paper  in  the  Union  ?  Only  let  the  political 
press  of  our  country,  bring  its  gigantic,  undivided 


262  PRACTICABILITY  OF 

Strength  to  bear  upon  this  object,  and  it  will  not 
be  long  before  it  will  be  accomplished. 

Another  animating  symptom  is,  the  rapidity  with 
which  "  Journals  of  Education  "  have  sprung  up 
in  all  parts  of  the  Union.  Less  than  three  years 
ago  at  the  house  of  a  distinguished  Christian  phi- 
lanthropist in  Albany,  a  proposition  was  made 
between  two  or  three  friends  of  education,  that 
they  should  start  a  popular  paper,  to  be  called  the 
"Common  School  Assistant;"  one  promising  to 
defray  the  expense  of  an  experimental  number,  if 
another  would  prepare  the  matter.  The  matter 
was  speedily  prepared,  fifty  thousand  copies  of 
the  number  were  circulated  through  the  United 
States ;  two  hundred  and  sixty  agents  have  been 
set  to  work  delivering  lectures  throughout  the 
State  of  New- York  ;  these  lectures  have  invaria- 
bly been  well  attended  ;  sixteen  thousand  subscri- 
bers have  been  obtained,  and  eleven  hundred 
thousand  copies  of  the  "  Common  School  Assist- 
ant "  have  been  distributed,  from  the  profits  of 
which  the  wages  of  the  lecturers  have  been  paid. 
Some  of  the  results  of  this  wise  and  energetic 
movement  are,  that  the  common  school  cause  in 
New- York  has  become  one  of  more  general  and 
hearty  interest  than  any  other ;  so  much  so,  that 
the  late  act  of  the  legislature  increasing  its  common 
school  appropriation  from  two  hundred  to  four 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  has  been  greeted  with 
universal  satisfaction ;  and  (what  I  wished  par- 


NATIONAL  EDUCATION. 

ticularly  to  notice,)  seventeen  papers  like  the 
Common  School  Assistant  have  been  established 
in  various  parts  of  the  United  States. 

Here,  however,  I  should  not  fail  to  give  due 
credit  to  a  periodical  which,  more  than  any  other 
and  all  others,  has  helped  to  produce  that  benefi- 
cial excitement  in  favour  of  education  which  has 
grown  up  in  our  country  within  the  last  ten  years : 
I  mean  the  Journal  and  Annals  of  Education, 
published  in  Boston.  To  the  successive  editors 
of  this  periodical,  Messrs.  Russell  and  Woodbridge, 
the  country  owes  no  ordinary  debt  of  gratitude. 
The  former  commenced  his  labours  when  the 
public  mind  was  stagnant  on  the  subject  of  edu- 
cation, pursuing  them  through  several  years  of 
discouragement  and  loss  ;  and  the  latter  has  fol- 
lowed up  his  efforts  with  a  disinterestedness  and 
zeal  that  do  him  honour.  Nor  is  it  merely  be- 
cause of  their  exertions  to  produce  the  general 
excitement  in  our  country,  that  these  gentlemen 
deserve  our  thanks.  We  owe  them  quite  as  much 
and  more  for  having  made  it  that  intelligent  excite- 
ment which  it  is.  From  first  to  last,  the  improvement, 
no  less  than  the  diffusion  of  education,  has  been 
their  aim  ;  and  the  all-important  and  comprehen- 
sive distinction  between  "  education  and  instruc- 
tion" has  never  been  lost  sight  of  for  a  moment. 

Another  indication  of  a  most  animating  charac- 
ter, is,  that  teachers  are  embodying  themselves  into 
a  profession.     They  are  beginning  to  feel  the  im- 


264  PRACTICABILITV  OF 

portance  of  their  employment,  and  are  preparing 
to  manifest  it  to  the  world.  With  the  feeling 
that  their  profession  is  a  noble  one,  they  have 
the  magnanimity  to  own  that  it  is  degraded,  and 
accordingly  have  set  themselves  to  raise  it ;  and 
if  to  the  energy  and  wisdom  and  wide-spread  co- 
operation with  which  they  have  gone  to  work, 
they  will  only  add  a  little  perseverance,  the  glo- 
rious task  of  its  regeneration,  and  through  it,  of 
the  regeneration  of  society,  and  the  salvation  of 
our  institutions  will  be  effected. 

Brethren  of  this  honourable  calling !  let  us  go 
forward.  There  is  every  thing  to  animate  us. 
Let  us  resolve  to  show  not  only  that  "  the  school- 
master is  abroad,"  but  that  he  is  abroad  to  some 
purpose  ;  that  he  is  abroad  for  good.  Let  us 
demonstrate  not  only  that  he  is  active,  but  that 
he  knows  what  he  is  about ;  and  in  all  our  efforts 
let  improvement  and  diffusion  be  our  motto.  There 
is  not  a  more  dignified  vocation  upon  earth  than 
ours.  Let  us  becomingly  assert  its  dignity.  It 
is  respectable  in  itself;  let  us  determine  that  it 
shall  be  respected. 

American  teachers,  like  the  American  clergy, 
are  placed  in  a  peculiarly  prominent  and  respon- 
sible attitude  before  the  world.  They  are  alike 
dependent  on  the  efficacy  of  the  voluntary  sys- 
tem, and  are  equally  entrusted  by  the  country 
with  the  task  of  demonstrating  that  it  has  a  self- 
sustaining,  self-impelling,  self-expanding   power. 


.rorfADV     NATIONAIi    EDUCATION. 


The  teachers  of  other  countries  may  have  taken 
the  lead  in  settling  the  fundamental  principles  of 
education  ;  it  devolves  on  us  to  take  the  lead  in 
applying  them.  From  the  nature  of  our  institu* 
tions,  we  have  opportunities  and  stimulants  which 
they  have  not.  In  the  monarchical  countries  of 
Europe,  teachers  are  the  agents,  the  creatures  of 
the  government.  They  are  educated  by  its  trea-' 
sury,  directed  by  its  ministry,  and  live  upon  its 
bounty.  Consequently  they  can  move  no  faster, 
nor  in  any  other  direction  than  the  monarch 
wishes.  Here  we  are  independent  and  untram- 
melled. The  government  and  the  country  look  to 
us,  not  we  to  the  government.  The  popular  mind 
(in  the  children  of  the  nation,)  is  placed  at  our 
disposal,  and  we  are  solicited  to  mould  it.  Be- 
side, its  character  and  condition  are  in  our  favour. 
It  is  freer,  more  accessible,  more  plastic,  and 
less  enslaved  by  prejudices.  In  the  United  States 
we  have  a  more  open,  unencumbered  field  than 
the  teachers  of  the  old  world.  Here  there  is 
less  to  be  undone.  Our  start  is  fair ;  our  course 
is  clear  and  broad  ;  a  glorious  race  invites  us  ;  let 
us  strive  to  run  it  with  wisdom,  energy,  and  pa- 
tience. 

But  what  are  the  clergy  of  our  country  doing 
to  excite,  direct,  and  elevate  the  public  sentiment 
in  regard  to  education  ?  Where  are  the  ministers 
of  the  Gospel,  that  the  pulpit  does  so  little  to 
awaken  the  slumbers  of  the  Church  over  the  most 
23 


266   PRACTICABILITY  OP  NATIONAL  EDUCATION. 

comprehensive  and  important  of  all  human  inter- 
ests, the  appropriate  education  of  the  young  ?  Is 
there  not  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  Christians, 
as  such,  are  not  doing  their  duty  in  this  particular  ? 
I  will  not  stop  to  reply  to  these  inquiries,  as  I  in- 
tend devoting  to  them  a  separate  chapter,  and 
shall  merely  close  with  the  remark  respecting  the 
clergy,  that  if  power  and  opportunity  to  do  good 
constitute  a  measure  of  obligation,  one  scarcely 
knows  what  limits  to  assign  to  theirs,  in  relation 
to  this  subject. 


CHAPTER    V. 


AN  APPEAIi  TO  THE  CLERGY,  ON  THEIR  OBLIGATIONS 
TO  ASSIST  IN  EXCITING,  ELEVATING,  AND  DIRECT- 
ING PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF 
POPULAR    EDUCATION. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact,  pregnant  with  instruction 
and  obligation,  that  for  ahnost  all  the  cultivated 
mind  which  our  country  possesses,  she  is  indebted 
to  religion,  through  the  agency  of  the  clergy.  The 
proof  of  this  assertion  is  short  and  convincing. 

In  the  first  place  it  is  certainly  true  in  regard 
to  Common  School  education.  To  prove  this,  it 
were  sufficient  to  cite  the  following  preamble  to  the 
first  act  of  Massachusetts  respecting  her  shcools, 
passed  in  May,  1647;  which  act  formed  the  germ 
of  all  the  common  school  systems  subsequently 
adopted  throughout  the  Union:  — 

"  It  being  the  chief  project  of  Satan  to  keep 
men  from  the  knowledge  of  the  Scripture,  as  in 
former  times,  keeping  them  in  unknown  tongues 
that  so  at  least  the  true  sense  and  meaning  of  the 


268         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY, 

Original  might  be  clouded  and  corrupted  with 
false  glosses  of  deceivers  ;  to  the  end  that  learning^ 
may  not  be  buried  in  the  graves  of  our  forefathers, 
in  church  and  commonwealth,  the  Lord  assisting 
our  endeavours^  It  is  therefore  ordered  by  this 
court  and  authority  thereof,  that  every  township 
within  this  jurisdiction  after  the  Lord  has  increased 
them  to  fifty  house -holders,  shall  then  forthwith 
appoint  one  within  their  towns  to  teach  all  such 
children  as  shall  resort  to  him,  to  read  and 
write." 

The  colony  of  Connecticut  followed  next  in 
legislating  upon  this  subject,  and  in  the  same 
spirit.  The  New- York  system  is  by  acknowledge- 
ment a  combination  of  the  principles  of  volun- 
tary taxation,  which  is  the  dependence  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  of  reliance  upon  a  fund  which 
characterizes  the  Connecticut  system  ;  and  it 
again  has  been  the  model  chiefly  imitated  in  all  the 
states  subsequently  legislating  upon  the  subject ; 
so  that  all  the  provisions  for  popular  education 
throughout  the  Union  had  their  origin  in  the  desire 
of  the  Puritans  to  qualify  their  children  to  read 
the  loord  of  God. 

in  the  second  place,  it  is  no  less  true  of  the  edu- 
cation derived  from  our  colleges,  and  their  pre- 
paratory schools,  that  the  country  is  almost  ex- 
clusively indebted  for  it  to  the  clergy.  In  their 
origin  and  in  their  management,  they  are  equally 
>yith  the  common  school  system,  the  fruit  of  reU-» 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         269 

gion.  The  funds  by  which  they  are  supported 
have  been  collected  by  the  clergy  ;  and  the  officers 
by  whom  they  are  conducted  are  almost  exclu- 
sively either  members  of  the  sacred  profession,  or 
candidates  preparing  for  its  duties.  Legislation 
has  done  next  to  nothing  towards  endowing  the 
older  and  more  important  colleges  of  the  Union  ; 
and  of  some  eighty  institutions  in  our  country 
bearing  this  name,  there  are  not  ten  that  have  not 
clergymen  at  their  head. 

Hitherto  there  seems  to  have  been  a  necessity 
for  clerical  connexion,  in  some  shape,  with  our 
higher  literary  institutions.  This  is  apparent 
from  the  relative  condition  of  colleges  founded  by 
government  and  those  belonging  to  some  religious 
sect.  Not  only  is  the  number  of  the  latter,  at  the 
lowest  calculation,  ten-fold  greater,  but  in  pros- 
perity and  success  they  far  outstrip  the  former. 
It  would  be  perfectly  easy,  were  it  not  invidious, 
to  make  specifications  here,  corroborative  of  this 
statement ;  but  this  would  be  superfluous,  as  they 
must  readily  occur  to  the  mind  of  every  one  who 
has  been  observant  of  the  stale  and  progress  of 
education  in  his  country.  A  state  college  cannot 
stand  competition  with  a  denominational  institu- 
tion. The  experiment  has  been  repeatedly  tried, 
and  with  but  one  issue ;  while  there  have  been 
cases  in  which,  under  the  pressure  of  this  convic- 
tion, state  institutions  have  been  handed  over  to 
some  religious  denomination. 
23* 


270         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

From  these  facts,  it  is  evident  that  the  clergy 
have  had  it  in  their  power  to  give  almost  any 
direction  they  saw  proper  to  the  education  of  the 
youth  of  the  United  States.  The  question,  there- 
fore, very  naturally  suggests  itself,  why  have  they  not 
made  it  and  kept  it  strictly  moral  ?  Forty  or  fifty 
years  ago  the  Bible  was  the  most  common  text 
book  in  the  hands  of  children.  Why  was  it  not 
retained  in  schools,  and  employed  with  increasing 
skill  and  energy,  as  the  divinely  appointed  instru- 
ment for  moulding  the  moral  character  of  the  na- 
tion ?  This  question  cannot  be  answered,  without 
throwing  upon  the  clergy  the  blame  of  too  easy  a 
submission  to  the  demands  of  the  anti-religious 
prejudices,  growing  out  of  the  political  changes 
effected  by  the  revolution.  That  the  change 
which  we  lament  was  yielded  to  almost  without 
resistance,  is  manifest  from  the  absence  of  docu- 
mentary evidence  to  the  contrary.  Owing  to  the 
isolated  position  of  the  author  at  the  West,  remote 
from  public  libraries,  it  would  be  wrong  for  him 
to  assume  there  are  no  others ;  but  the  pamphlet 
from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Rush,  already  quoted,  is  the 
only  effort  of  the  kind  of  which  he  has  any  know- 
ledge. 

How  strong,  then,  is  the  obligation  resting  on 
the  clergy,  to  exert  themselves  to  the  utmost  to 
restore  the  Bible  to  its  rightful  position  in  the 
school-house  ;  in  other  words,  to  assist  in  creating 
a,  state  of  public  opinion,  which  shall  not  only  per- 


-^         APPEAL  TO  THE   CLERGY.  271 

mit,  but  require  the  employment  of  the  sacred 
volume,  for  the  purpose  of  impressing  that  reli- 
gious character  upon  the  children  of  the  natiod 
which  the  theory  of  our  government,  and  more  es- 
pecially our  critical  condition  at  the  present  time, 
so  loudly  calls  for. 

But  there  are  many  other  reasons,  of  a  no  less 
weighty  kind,  which  urgently  call  upon  the  clergy 
to  do  their  best  to  create  a  public  sentiment  which 
shall  give  the  requisite  religious  impress  to  our 
national  education. 

The  first  that  I  shall  mention  is,  that  if  this  is 
not  done  hy  them,  it  is  not  likely  that  it  will  be 
done  at  all.  We  cannot  expect  the  politicians  of 
the  country  generally,  nor  even  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  them,  to  exert  themselves  for  this  purpose. 
In  all  their  legislation  on  the  subject,  our  govern- 
ments have  been  totally  neglectful  of  direct  pro- 
visions for  the  virtuous  education  of  the  young ; 
they  have  confined  their  eflforts  solely  to  the  dif- 
fusion of  the  means  of  intellectual  instruction. 
The  statutes  of  our  legislative  bodies,  in  no  case, 
recognise  the  necessity  of  educational  treatment 
expressly  directed  to  the  moral  faculties. 

But  even  had  this  object  been  theoretically  con- 
templated, their  practical  arrangements  have  been 
such  as  would  effectually  prevent  its  attainment. 
The  false  economy  which  characterizes  all  our 
legislation  for  the  support  of  common  schools, 
utterly  forbids  the  employment  of  competent  in- 


272         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

structers  ;  and  without  judicious,  faithful,  conscien- 
tious teachers,  legislative  enactments  would  have 
been  of  no  account. 

This,  however,  is  not  the  worst.  It  would  be 
well  if  the  influence  of  our  political  rulers,  both  in 
their  efforts  to  obtain  office,  and  in  their  conduct 
whilst  in  office,  were  even  indifferent  in  its  effects 
on  public  morals ;  but  this  is  very  far  from  being 
the  case.  With  reference  to  too  large  a  number, 
it  is  decidedly  prejudicial :  there  is  scarcely  an- 
other cause  which  operates  so  injuriously.  The 
prevailing  spirit  of  our  legislation  is  not  (it  is  to  be 
feared,)  that  which  would  be  dictated  by  the  im- 
mutable principles  of  moral  science.  These,  there 
is  reason  to  apprehend,  have  too  little  to  do  in 
regulating  the  proceedings  of  our  legislative  bodies. 
In  general,  the  man  who  always  keeps  his  con- 
science about  him  in  a  legislative  chamber,  has 
not  the  best  prospect  of  being  highly  influential. 
We  have  heard  it  gravely  objected  to  two  of  the 
brightest  ornaments  of  our  national  councils,  that 
they  would  not  do  for  politicians ;  "  they  were  too 
conscientious."  Would  that  all  were  obnoxious  to 
this  distinguished  compliment. 

But  it  is  chiefly  by  an  improper  system  of  elec- 
tioneering that  our  political  rulers  exert  a  delete- 
rious influence  on  public  morals.  It  is  deeply 
mortifying  to  see  (as  we  have  too  frequent  occa- 
sion,) some  of  the  most  prominent  politicians  of  the 
country,  condescending  to  employ  the  low  arts  of 


>;;^   APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         273 

the  demagogue  for  the  purpose  .of  securing  votes. 
The  miserable  pretext  of"  beating  an  enemy  with 
his  own  weapons,"  will  not  excuse  them.  Let  it 
be  admitted  that  without  such  means,  an  important 
election,  the  most  important  in  the  nation,  if  you 
please,  must  terminate  unfavourably.  Let  it  so 
terminate.  It  were  better  thus  a  thousand  times 
repeated,  than  that  the  political  guardians  of  the 
people  should  steal  from  them  their  virtue.  Admit 
it,  that  without  a  resort  to  such  expedients,  the 
demagogue  may  beat  the  advocate  of  the  consti- 
tution and  of  justice.  Then  let  him  beat  him.  If 
the  people  continue  virtuous,  his  career  will  be 
short  lived.  If  the  people  are  merely  duped  by 
him,  there  is  ground  to  hope  that  experience  will 
bring  them  to  their  senses.  They  will  in  time 
discover  the  cheat,  will  be  indignant  at  the  fraud, 
and  will  hurl  aside  the  knave  with  scorn  for 
him  and  all  his  measures.  In  this  case  there  is 
much  to  anticipate  from  the  operation  of  a  moral 
vis  medicatrix,  the  self-correcting  tendency  of 
evils.  But  if  the  moral  sensibilities  of  the  people 
have  been  debased,  (and  what  so  likely  to  do  this 
as  the  bad  example  of  those  whom  the  nation  looks 
to  with  respect  ?)  there  is  no  hope  ;  all  recupera- 
tive power  in  the  body  politic  is  lost,  and  there  is 
nothing  to  prevent  the  progress  of  corruption ;  the 
corrupting  and  the  corrupted  becoming  more  cor- 
rupt, until  the  country  shall  be  forced  to  take 
I'efuge  in  the  dictatorship  of  a  military  despot. 


274         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.   J^ 

There  are  few  things  more  revolting  to  our 
moral  feelings  than  to  see  an  influential  politician 
proud  of  the  celebrity  which  he  may  have  acquired 
for  tact  in  electioneering  ;  to  hear  him  boast  of  the 
adroitness  with  which  he  has  appealed  to  the 
grovelling  prejudices  of  the  people,  thus  dignifying 
in  their  eyes  the  arts  and  trickery  of  the  reckless 
demagogue,  sanctifying  measures  which  he  should 
denounce  with  indignation,  making  habitual,  what 
but  for  his  concurrence,  would  be  only  occasion- 
al, stereotyping  evils  which  but  for  his  example, 
would  be  transient,  and  sapping  with  his  own 
hands  the  true  foundation  of  all  government,  whilst 
he  is  proclaimed  to  be  the  enemy  of  agrarianism, 
the  supporter  of  the  constitution  and  of  moral  order. 
Misled  by  such  examples,  is  it  any  wonder  that 
the  people  should  never  question  their  right  to 
vote  for  whom  they  please  ;  to  give  their  suffrages, 
for  instance,  to  him  who  can  crack  the  best  joke, 
tell  the  best  story,  sing  the  best  song,  drink  the 
most  freely,  and  scatter  his  money  most  profusely, 
without  taking  into  consideration  the  intellectual 
and  moral  qualifications  of  the  candidate. 

From  these  considerations,  it  is  perfectly  obvious 
we  cannot  expect  that  measures  calculated  to 
produce  the  moral  improvement  of  society  by 
means  of  christianized  education  will  originate 
with  our  governments.  By  the  government,  I 
mean  of  course,  the  representatives  of  the  people, 
who,  for  selfish  considerations,  too  often  accom- 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         275 

modate  their  official  conduct  to  the  existing  tastes 
and  wishes  of  the  people.  Hence,  they  are  almost 
always  found  to  act  in  the  rear,  and  at  the  bidding 
of  public  sentiment.  In  a  republic  the  government 
derives  its  character  from  the  people,  not  the 
people  from  the  government.  If  therefore  public 
reform  at  any  time  be  necessary,  it  must  have  its 
origin  elsewhere  than  with  those  whose  interested 
subserviency  to  the  popular  will  is  apt  to  lead 
them  to  obey  it  even  at  so  high  a  cost  as  disobe- 
dience to  the  commands  of  conscience  and  the 
law  of  God. 

Let  the  people  once  demand  the  introduction 
of  religious  influences  into  their  schools,  and  their 
representatives  will  be  prompt  enough  to  order 
it.  But  it  is  essential  that  the  desire  pre-exist  in 
the  minds  of  the  people;  whence  it  is  perfectly 
clear,  that  to  expect  a  hearty  movement  on  the 
part  of  our  governments  in  favour  of  religious 
education  previously  to  a  favourable  change  in 
public  sentiment,  produced  by  some  other  agency 
than  theirs,  is  to  look  for  an  eiSect  prior  to  the 
operation  of  its  cause.  Our  legislatures,  therefore, 
however  indispensable  their  final  action,  (and  of 
this  1  have  not  a  doubt)  cannot  be  depended  on 
to  introduce  spontaneously  so  great  an  improve- 
ment as  that  of  reuniting  intellectual  and  moral 
culture,  of  imparting  to  the  education  of  the  youth 
of  our  country,  a  moral  character,  derived  from 
the  principles  and  precepts  of  the  Bible. 


276  APPEAL    TO    THE    CLERGY* 

Another  reason  urgently  calling  upon  the  clergy 
to  use  their  best  endeavours  to  have  a  religious, 
that  is,  a  truly  moral  character  impressed  upon 
the  youth  of  our  country,  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  the  Bible  employed  in  the  common  schools, 
is,  that  under  existing  circumstances,  there  is  no 
other  possible  way  of  effecting  it. 

The  means  at  present  relied  upon  are  altogether 
inadequate.  These  are  the  Family,  the  Fulpit, 
the  Sunday-school,  and  Boarding-schools. 

In  the  first  place  parents  are  not  to  be  depend- 
ed on  to  give  a  religious  education  to  the  children 
of  the  nation. 

There  are  not  a  few  who  would  oppose  any 
steps  being  taken  toward  introducing  the  Bible 
and  religious  influences  into  the  public  schools, 
because  of  the  impression  that  children  ought  to 
be  taught  religion  at  home  by  their  parents,  or  at 
church  by  their  ministers.  There  would  be  some- 
thing of  plausibility  in  this  position,  if  religion  were 
brought  to  bear  judiciously  and  with  energy  in 
forming  the  character  of  the  youth  of  the  country 
under  the  domestic  roof  or  in  the  church.  But  if  it 
be  true,  as  unquestionably  is  the  fact,  that  the  re- 
ligious culture  of  the  young  is  notoriously  neg- 
lected by  a  majority  of  families,  and  but  very  im- 
perfectly executed  by  far  the  larger  part  of  those 
who  do  attempt  it,  the  force  of  this  objection  is 
lost. 

I  grant  that  parents  are  the  proper  persons  to 


APPEAL   fO   tittE    CLBR6V.  2T7 

superintend  the  moral  culture  of  their  offspring ; 
and  if  they  would  only  do  their  duty,  there  would 
be  but  little  left  to  be  accomplished  through  the 
agency  of  the  schoolmaster.  Families  are  the 
elements  of  a  nation  ;  and  if  all  these  were  rightly 
disciplined  there  would  be  little  or  nothing  defec- 
tive in  the  aggregate.  I  concur  most  heartily 
with  those  who  would  do  reverence  to  national 
institutions.  Of  these  the  family  organization  isi 
pre-eminently  one  ;  and  I  would  cordially  depre- 
cate all  artificial  arrangements  which  tend  in  the 
slightest  manner  to  impair  or  supersede  its  opera- 
tion. 

The  goodness  and  the  wisdom  of  God  are  in 
nothing  more  conspicuously  displayed  than  in  the 
admirable  provision  he  has  made  for  nurturing 
the  germ  of  intellect  and  feeling  which  distinguish 
the  human  being.  Where  in  the  whole  range  of 
nature  and  of  art  can  there  be  found  so  complete 
and  beautiful  an  exemplification  of  the  division  of 
labour  ?  The  mighty  work  of  educating  an  entire 
generation  is  constantly  going  on  in  our  world ; 
and  yet  the  task  is  so  distributed,  that  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  every  half  a  dozen  minds  there  are 
provided  two  instructers.  The  circumstances  too 
under  which  the  teachers  and  the  taught  are 
brought  together,  are  the  most  favourable  that 
can  be  imagined  for  accomplishing  the  end  pro- 
posed. What  facility  is  not  provided  ?  What 
requisite  for  the  organization  of  a  perfect  school  is 
24 


278  APPEAL   TO    THE    CLERGY. 

wanting?  The  number  of  pupils  is  small.  They 
are  placed  completely  at  the  disposal  of  their 
teachers,  whose  authority  divine  and  human  laws 
conspire  to  support.  They  come  on  in  succes- 
sion, so  that  the  society  and  example  of  the  older 
may  facilitate  the  education  of  the  younger;  which 
leads  me  to  remark  in  passing,  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  over-estimate  the  importance  of  rightly 
training  the  first  born  child.  They  come  under 
the  tuition  of  their  parents  with  minds  peculiarly 
susceptible  of  impression,  with  a  mental  appetite 
which  is  insatiable,  with  a  proneness  to  imitation 
that  seldom  fails  to  transform  them  into  the  image 
of  their  models,  having  no  prejudices  to  be  eradi- 
cated, no  bad  habits  to  be  undone.  The  material 
is  fresh,  its  ductility  is  perfect,  and  there  is  ample 
time,  even  the  entire  period  intervening  between 
infancy  and  manhood,  allowed  to  give  it  the  desired 
shape.  In  short,  every  thing  is  provided,  every 
thing  is  complete,  and  nothing  is  wanting  but  that 
parents  do  their  duty.  But  alas  for  suffering  hu- 
manity !  here  is  just  the  point  of  failure.  Parents 
do  not  do  their  duty.  This  vale  of  tears  would  long 
fince  have  been  reconverted  into  one  universal 
jEden,  from  which,  but  for  the  infirmities  attendant 
upon  age,  we  should  scarcely  wish  to  escape  for 
the  sake  of  obtaining  superior  felicity  had  parents 
done  their  duty  ;  and  the  brightness  of  the  millen- 
ial  morning  will  never  illumine  our  earth  till 
parents  do  their  duty.     But  as  things  are  at  pre- 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLEROT.  279 

sent,  parents  cannot  do  their  duty ;  and  that  they 
cannot  is  perhaps  more  their  misfortune  than  their 
fault.  Such  is  the  state  of  miseducation  which 
almost  universally  prevails,  that  they  are  not  pre- 
pared beforehand  and  qualified  to  do  it :  and  in 
such  a  case  can  it  be  deemed  officious  that  public 
sentiment  should  interpose,  and  by  the  agency  of 
well  constituted  schools  try  to  have  the  rising 
generation  prepared  for  the  responsible  stations 
which  await  them  ?  and,  above  all,  for  this  the 
most  responsible,  the  most  important  ? 


The  church,  too,  is  scarcely  less  negligent  than 
the  family,  of  the  religious  training  of  the  young  ; 
the  spiritual  pastor  than  the  parent. 

The  pulpit  contributes  very  little,  in  a  direct 
manner,  toward  the  moral  education  of  children. 
They  cannot  derive  much  benefit  in  the  way  of 
instruction  from  hearing  sermons.  The  Sunday 
efforts  of  the  clergyman  are  adapted  almost  ex- 
clusively to  adults.  The  greatest  benefit  we 
can  now  expect  for  our  children  from  taking 
them  to  church,  is^  the  formation  of  charch-going 
habits  and  the  cultivation  of  reverence  for  the 
sanctuary  and  the  Sabbath. 


Nor  does  the  too  much  lauded,  or  rather  the  too 
indiscriminately  lauded  Sunday-school  system* 
supply  the  defects  of  the  pulpit  in  this  respect. 


!^9Q  APPEAL  TO  THi:   CI^ROT, 

I  yield  to  none  in  thankfulness  for  the  good 
which  this  noble  institution  has  achieved.  The 
name  of  Robert  Raikes  will  "be  had  in  everlast- 
ing remembrance  "  as  a  benefactor  of  his  race. 
Estimating  the  value  of  the  Sunday-school,  retro- 
spectively, by  a  comparison  with  what  had  been 
done  for  the  religious  education  of  children  prior 
to  its  institution,  it  must  be  regarded  as  an  admi- 
rable advance  upon  nothing, —  upon  almost  total 
neglect  of  this  duty.  But  when  we  form  our 
opinion  of  its  worth  from  a  consideration  of  its 
fitness,  and  its  competency  to  effect  the  religious 
culture  of  all  the  children  in  our  country,  I  feel 
constrained  to  regard  it  in  the  light  of  a  tempo- 
rary and  most  inadequate  expedient. 

I  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood,  however, 
that  I  criticise  it  as  a  friend,  not  as  an  opposer. 
I  conceive  it  to  be  my  duty  to  do  so,  because  it  ap- 
pears to  me  that  the  Church  is  too  much  disposed  to 
regard  it  as  the  "ne  plus  ultra"  of  provisions  of 
this  sort.  I  wish  to  aid  in  producing  the  convic- 
tion, that,  with  reference  to  the  obstacles  to  the 
religious  education  of  the  young,  she  has  not  yet 
passed  over  Jordan  ;  and  that  it  is  too  soon  to  take 
up  her  rest,  as  though  she  had  attained  the  con- 
summation of  what  is  desirable  in  the  way  of 
moral  attentions  to  the  lambs  of  Christ's  flock. 
I  would  merely  remind  her  that  she  has  taken 
but  the  very  first  step  toward  this  result ;  that 
*'  there  remaineth  yet  much  land  to  be  possessed,'* 
and  that  she  should  still  "  go  on  unto  perfection.** 


A  PPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.  281 

Estimating  it  by  the  criterion  above  proposed, 
the  Sunday-school  system  cannot  fail  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  most  imperfect  provision  for  the  re- 
ligious education  of  the  young. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  it  embraces  and  can  em- 
brace but  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  children 
of  the  countr}'.  It  is  supposed  that  there  must  be 
in  the  United  States  something  like  four  millions 
of  chidren.  Of  these  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
one-eighth  are  in  constant  attendance  upon  Sab- 
bath-schools. It  will  not  do  to  rely  upon  the 
published  numbers  in  making  this  calculation,  for 
these  are  but  the  aggregate  of  nominal  attendants  ; 
and  every  Sabbath-school  teacher  knows  that  be- 
tween this  list  and  the  number  of  those  who  de- 
rive much  benefit  from  habitual  presence  in  the 
Sunday-school,  the  difference  is  painfully  great. 

Nor  is  it  in  the  power  of  Christian  benevolence 
to  increase  the  number  of  regular  attendants  very 
much.  There  are  impediments  in  the  way  over 
which  it  has  no  control.  The  want  of  teachers 
must  for  a  long  time  to  come  effectually  preclude 
the  multiplication  of  Sabbath-schools  in  the  Uni- 
ted States  much  beyond  their  present  numbers. 
It  is  not  for  want  of  suitable  exertions  that  more 
of  the  children  of  the  nation  are  not  already  en- 
rolled in  Sunday-schools.  The  annals  of  benevo- 
lent effort  scarcely  afford  an  instance  of  liberal 
enterprise  comparable  to  that  which  within  a  few 
years  back  has  lavishly  scattered  the  money  of 
24* 


282  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

northern  Christians  over  the  southern  and  west- 
ern portions  of  the  Union  to  build  up  Sunday- 
schools  within  their  limits.  But  have  the  perma- 
nent results  been  at  all  proportioned  to  the  exer- 
tions made  ?  It  is  painful  to  every  friendly  ob- 
server, resident  within  the  Mississippi  Valley,  to 
witness  the  ephemeral  existence  that  has  too  of- 
ten awaited  the  fruits  of  such  liberal  and  well- 
meant  efforts.  It  may  be  that  the  vanity  of  agents 
has  been  flattered,  and  the  good  feelings  of  central 
Boards  of  Managers  gratified  by  the  splendid  nu- 
merical success  which  they  have  been  able  to  pub- 
lish ;  but  it  is,  notwithstanding,  true,  that  in  very 
many  cases,  the  type  has  not  been  dried  from 
having  impressed  the  name  of  a  Sunday-school  up- 
on the   pages  of  their  report,  before  that  schyol^ 

has  ceased  to  have  a  being.  It  is  quixotic tjenev- 
olence  to  attempt  to  establish  Sabbaih-schools 
where  teachers  are  not  to  be  had.  The  body  is 
not  more  dependent  for  its  vitality  upon  the  soul, 
than  is  a  school  upon  a  teacher. 

The  difficulty  of  procuring  teachers  is  the 
greatest,  too,  precisely  in  the  region  where  it  is 
most  desirable  that  Sunday-schools  should  be  es- 
tablished, viz.  in  the  country ;  for  it  is  here,  that 
owing  to  our  agricultural  habits,  the  mass  of  the 
population  are  to  be  found.  It  follows  as  a  co- 
rollary from  these  facts,  that  the  Sabbath-school 
system  is  practicable  only  or  chiefly  in  towns  and 
villages,  which  probably  do  not  contain  one-tenth 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLEUOY.  283 

of  our  inhabitants,  and  therefore  is  not  fitted  to 
meet  the  moral  necessities  of  the  children  of  the 
United  States  at  large.  When  we  see  how  diffi- 
cult it  is  to  keep  up  a  good  set  of  Sunday-school 
teachers  in  our  cities,  and  how  much  harder  still 
it  is  in  villages,  we  should  be  driven  to  anticipate 
that  it  would  be  almost  impossible  in  country  sit- 
uations ;  and  such  experience  has  proved  to  be 
the  fact. 

2.  Another  objection  to  relying  upon  Sunday- 
schools  for  the  religious  education  of  the  youth  of 
the  country,  is,  the  general  incompelency  of  the 
teachers. 

There  is  scarcely  a  single  qualification  requisite 
to  make  a  good  teacher  which  is  not  wanting  in 
a  large  majority  of  those  who  officiate  as  such  in 
Sunday-schools.  They  are  for  the  most  part 
young  men  and  women  who  are  without  expe- 
rience in  teaching,  and  therefore  without  skill. 
They  are  under  no  responsibility  other  than  that 
w^hich  their  own  consciences  voluntarily  impose. 
They  are  too  commonly  irregular  in  their  atten- 
dance ;  and  if  they  do  attend,  their  own  notions 
of  religious  truth  are  so  crude  and  ill-digested, 
that  they  have  occasion  themselves  to  learn  what 
they  profess  to  teach.  But  are  not  experience, 
and  skill,  and  responsibility,  and  constancy,  and 
knowledge,  full  as  necessary  in  those  who  attempt 
to  teach  religion,  as  in  those  who  teach  arithme- 
tic ?     To  train  the  affections,  to  form  the  habits, 


284  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

to  infuse  good  sentiments,  to  inspire  love  to  God 
and  man,  is  universally  conceded  to  impose  a 
harder  task  than  to  train  the  understanding.  It 
is  strange  reasoning  then,  by  which  we  arrive  at 
the  conclusion,  that  on  this  account  inferior  teach- 
ers are  adapted  to  its  execution. 

The  result  of  all  this  is,  that  the  benefits  derived 
from  attending  Sunday-schools  are  too  often  of 
questionable  value.  I  speak  advisedly  when  I  say 
that  some  of  those  most  prominently  and  efficiently 
connected  with  the  Sunday-school  system,  in  our 
largest  cities,  are  so  fully  persuaded  of  its  imper- 
fection, that  but  for  the  sake  of  consistency  they 
would  not  subject  their  children  to  its  influences. 

3.  Another  reason  for  believing  the  Sabbath- 
school  to  be  an  inadequate  expedient,  is  founded 
on  the  small  amount  of  time  during  which  its  pupils 
are  attended  to,  and  the  length  of  the  interval  oc- 
curring between  these  opportunities. 

It  will  not  suffice  that  children  receive  religious 
instruction  only  one  or  two  hours  in  a  week.  Al- 
lowing ten  hours  for  sleep,  there  are  still  fourteen 
during  the  day,  or  near  a  hundred  in  the  week,  in 
which  most  of  children  are  awake  and  active,  re- 
ceiving impressions  and  forming  habits.  It  surely, 
then,  ought  not  to  satisfy  the  consciences  of  their 
spiritual  superintendents,  that  they  have  made 
provisions  for  the  fiftieth  part  of  this  period. 

Beside,  children  require  moderate  and  oft  re- 
peated attentions.     This  is  a  law  which  none  can 


APPEAL  TO   THE   CI<ERGY.  285 

disregard  with  safety  who  would  be  successful 
teachers  of  the  young.  Their  moral  wants  are 
daily ;  I  may  say  hourly :  so  should  be  the  atten- 
tion paid  them.  When  the  intervals  between  the 
periods  of  instruction  are  too  long,  there  is  danger 
lest  all  good  impressions  be  effaced  before  they 
can  be  followed  up  and  confirmed  by  others. 
Who  does  not  admire  the  philosophy  of  the  scrip- 
tural rule, "  Line  upon  line,  and  precept  upon  pre- 
cept ;  here  a  little  and  there  a  little  ?"  It  seems 
almost  superfluous  to  add,  that  the  Sunday-school 
mode  of  teaching  runs  counter  to  this  rule. 

4.  Another  consideration  calculated  to  inspire 
diffidence  of  the  Sabbath-school  system,  and  to 
repress  extravagant  expectations  with  regard  to 
its  "permanent  advantages,  is,  that  there  is  danger 
lest  it  should  encourage  a  neglect  of  domestic 
education,  and  thus  tend  to  perpetuate  the  evils  it 
was  designed  to  remedy. 

It  is  universally  true,  that  we  are  not  so  likely 
to  attend  to  that  which  others  will  do  for  us ;  and 
there  is  reason  to  fear  lest  even  some  conscientious 
persons,  who  feel  it  to  be  a  sacred  duty  to  "train 
up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord,"  should  be  induced,  by  the  lofty  ideas 
they  entertain  of  the  Sabbath-school,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  unmeasured  praise  bestowed  upon 
it,  to  suppose  that  comparatively  little  is  left  for 
them  to  do  at  home. 

I  look  upon  the  whole  Sabbath-school  system 


286  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

as  a  choice  of  evils.  It  is  a  very  imperfect  means 
of  religious  cultivation,  which  is  made  extremely 
valuable  in  consequence  of  the  flagrant  neglect  of 
parents,  to  whom  Providence  has  committed  the 
great  and  responsible  task  of  the  moral  education 
of  the  young.  If  every  family  were  managed  as 
it  should  be  ;  if  every  father  and  mother  did  their 
duty,  in  the  way  of  the  religious  instruction  of 
their  children,  there  would  be  little  or  no  occasion 
for  Sunday-schools  as  they  are  at  present  conducted. 
All  that  is  now  done  in  them,  and  a  great  deal 
more,  would  be  better  done  at  home.  But  as  a 
majority  of  parents  are  shamefully  remiss  in  this 
respect ;  and  as  children,  for  the  most  part,  are 
precluded  the  advantages  of  that  tuition  which 
God  designed  for  them,  —  and  which,  therefore, 
must  be  the  best,  —  it  is  unquestionably  to  their 
interest  that  this  foster  system  of  education  should 
be  introduced.  However  defective,  it  is  better 
than  absolute  neglect. 

The  history  of  Sabbath-schools  shows  that  they 
had  their  origin  in  the  want  of  fidelity  in  parents. 
The  idea  was  first  suggested  to  their  illustrious 
founder  by  his  sympathy  for  the  little  outcasts, 
who  on  the  Sabbath  roamed  about  the  streets  of 
his  native  city  as  lambs  without  a  shepherd,  being 
treated  by  their  proper  spiritual  guardians  as  if 
they  had  no  souls.  The  whole  system,  therefore, 
must  evidently  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  a  charity; 
and,  as  it  is  with  all  public  charities,  —  the  poor- 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         287 

rates  of  England,  for  example,  —  great  caution  is 
requisite  lest  it  be  so  managed  as  to  encourage  the 
evil  it  was  designed  to  remedy. 

It  will  not  suffice  to  reply  to  this  by  saying  that 
religious  education  is  better  attended  to  in  families 
now  than  it  was  before  the  institution  of  Sabbath- 
schools.  Is  the  improvement  by  any  means  so 
great  as  it  would  have  been  had  the  advocates  of 
Sabbath-schools  incessantly  proclaimed  the  un- 
alienable nature  of  parental  responsibility  ;  and 
whilst  they  cheerfully  imparted  religious  instruc- 
tion to  their  children,  had  reminded,  at  least,  pious 
fathers  and  mothers  that  they  were  permitting 
them  to  do  their  work,  and  were  thereby  convicted 
of  an  omission  for  which  they  should  have  to  give 
account  before  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead  ?  Has 
not  this  idea  been  rather  kept  out  of  view  by  the 
almost  unmeasured  admiration  which  the  system 
has  attracted  to  itself? — by  the  homage  it  has 
accepted,  if  not  courted,  at  the  hands  of  the  com- 
munity ?  Is  the  splendour  which  accompanies  its 
Fourth  of  July,  and  other  public  celebrations,  cal- 
culated to  make  the  consciences  of  beholding  pa- 
rents sore  at  the  recollection  of  their  remissness? 
—  to  start  the  idea  that  Sabbath-schools  are  so 
many  asylums  for  spiritual  orphans  ?  —  and  that 
the  thousands  of  scholars  who  swell  the  gay  pro- 
cession are  so  many  refugees  from  domestic  un- 
faithfulness ? 

I  am  delightfully  aware   that   Sunday-schools 


288  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

often  exert  a  happy  reflex  influence  upon  families. 
I  know  that  immense  good  has  been  done  by 
their  making  children,  (through  their  tasks,  their 
conversation,  and  their  library  books,)  indirectly 
the  religious  teachers  of  ungodly  parents.  I  grant 
all  this,  and  a  great  deal  more,  in  favour  of  this 
noble  product  of  Christian  philanthrophy,  for,  I  re- 
peat it,  1  am  a  friend,  an  ardent,  practical  friend, 
of  the  Sunday-school  system  ;  and  yet  I  do  main- 
tain, most  consistently  as  I  believe,  that  the  pro- 
gress of  religious  education  is  kept  back  by  a 
cherished  misconception  (not  intentional,)  of  its 
true  design,  its  nature,  and  its  power.  The  ques- 
tion is  not,  whether  religious  education  is  more 
attended  to  than  formerly  by  families ;  but  is  it  as 
much  attended  to  as  it  might  have  been  under  the 
influence  of  appropriate  and  incessant  effort,  dis- 
tinctly directed  to  this  object  during  the  whole  of 
the  half  century  that  Sunday-schools  have  been  in 
existence  ? 

What  I  feel  disposed  to  complain  of  is,  that 
the  spirit  with  which  these  schools  have  been 
conducted,  has  had  a  tendency  to  repress  a  con- 
viction of  the  necessity  for  such  efforts.  I  do  com- 
plain that  the  self-complacent  satisfaction  with 
which  the  Church  regards  her  Sabbath-schools, 
the  unqualified  praise  which  she  bestows  upon 
them,  does  tend  to  quiet  in  too  great  a  degree  the 
consciences  of  even  pious  parents  ;  and  worst  of 
all,  to  divert  the  public  mind  from  the  true  nature 


APPEAL  TO  THE   CLERGY.  289 

and  importance  of  the  family  constitution.  This 
is  God's  provision  for  the  moral  education  of  the 
young,  and  we  should  be  extremely  careful  how 
we  attempt  to  improve  on  what  he  pronounces 
good.  For  this,  man  can  find  no  substitute,  no 
equivalent.  Parental  accountability  does  not 
admit  of  being  delegated.  The  father  and  the 
mother  are  the  divinely  appointed  spiritual  guar- 
dians of  their  children,  for  whom  no  proxies  can 
be  found.  When  these  are  brought  to  understand 
and  do  their  duty,  and  not  before,  we  may  hope 
to  witness  the  moral  renovation  of  the  world. 

Yet  where  is  the  Sabbath-school  society  that 
holds  this  idea  up  with  sutficient  earnestness  and 
prominence  to  the  Church's  view  ?  Does  it  not 
engross  their  efforts  to  magnify  their  own  impor- 
tance ?  —  to  promote  their  prosperity  by  producing 
inflated  ideas  of  their  own  efficacy  ?  Is  not  the 
Sunday-school  proclaimed  to  be  the  great  device, 
the  moral  engine,  by  which  the  reformation  of 
society  is  to  be  effected  ? 

Where  is  the  Sabbath-school  association  that 
habitually  and  practically  recognises  its  true  sub- 
ordinate relation  to  the  family  institution?  Do 
the  spirit  and  the  manner  in  which  they  are  ha- 
bitually eulogized  tend  to  impress  it  upon  the 
hearts  and  consciences  of  Christians,  that  in 
their  highest  state  of  perfection  the  best  that  Sab- 
bath-schools can  do,  is,  to  aid  domestic  effort  ? 
That  the  most  valuable  corps  of  Sunday-school 
25 


290         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

teachers  are  but  auxiliaries  to  parents  ?  Is  not 
the  tendency  rather  to  make  that  be  looked  upon 
as  primary,  which  is,  by  Divine  arrangement, 
secondary  ?  The  parent  is  now  regarded  and 
treated  as  the  auxiliary  to  the  Sunday-school 
teacher  ;  fathers  and  mothers,  in  too  many  cases, 
as  the  aids  to  boys  and  girls  ! 

1  grant  that  Sunday-schools  do,  in  some  mea- 
sure, induce  parents  to  attend  to  their  children  at 
home.  But  does  this  follow  as  part  of  their  plan  — 
and  the  principal  part  ?  If  the  system  is  fitted  to 
have  this  most  desirable  effect,  why  has  it  not  been 
employed  for  the  purpose  more  directly  and  more 
earnestly  ?  Why  has  not  this  been  avowed  to  be 
its  most  prominent,  its  paramount  object  ? 

But  let  us  not  mistake  as  to  the  amount  of  do- 
mestic effort  induced  by  Sabbath-schools.  It  is 
not  so  great  as  some  may  think  it.  It  amounts  to 
little  more  than  assisting  children  to  get  their  Sun- 
day-school lesson.  The  parent  is  not  incited  to 
put  forth  other  and  more  extended  and  independ- 
ent effort.  And  is  one  lesson  a  week  enough  for 
the  spiritual  nourishment  of  children  ?  Children, 
let  it  never  be  forgotten,  have  the  same  moral  na- 
tures with  their  parents.  Their  wants,  therefore, 
are  the  same,  and  should  be  met  in  a  similar  way. 
They  recur  just  as  often,  and  should  be  supplied 
when  and  as  often  as  they  require.  Their  pas- 
sions are  the  same  and  need  the  same  restraints. 
Their  appetites,  for  the  most  part,  are  the  same, 


APPEAIi  TO   THE   CLERGY.  291 

and  require  equal  care  to  keep  them  from  running 
to  excess.  They  have  the  same  disinclination  to 
the  duties  of  devotion,  and  stand  in  need  of  the 
same  incitements.  The  principle  of  selfishness 
in  them  is  as  constantly  busy  ;  they  have  occasion, 
therefore,  for  as  constant  encouragement  to  resist 
it.  Benevolence  in  them  is  no  less  sluggish  than 
in  adulls,  and  demands  the  same  reiterated  excite- 
ment. Their  hopes  and  fears  and  desires  are 
just  as  active  as  those  of  grown  persons,  and  need 
hourly  guidance  quite  as  much. 

In  short,  the  way  to  make  and  keep  a  human 
being  religious,  is  the  same  with  a  child  as  with  a 
person  of  riper  years.  There  is  not  one  code  of 
laws  and  one  set  of  promises  in  the  Bible  for 
children,  and  another  for  grown  persons.  No  old 
Christian  can  thrive  unless  he  read  his  Bible  daily. 
No  more  can  a  young  one.  The  adult  Christian 
is  required  to  "  pray  without  ceasing."  So  must 
the  youthful  disciple.  And  thus  it  is  in  regard  to 
the  practice  of  repentance,  self-examination,  and 
every  other  duty.  As  I  have  said  before,  the  en- 
tire provision  made  in  the  Bible  for  the  moral 
education  of  children,  consists  in  simply  telling 
parents  how  to  do  and  what  to  be,  and  then  en- 
joining that  they  make  their  children  like  them- 
selves. 

The  amount  of  religious  attention  daily  required 
by  each  child  is  something  like  this.  Beside  em- 
ploying the  almost  innumerable  opportunities  for 


292  AFPEAT.  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

incidental  instruction, — that  invaluable  expedient 
which  our  Lord  employed  so  often  and  so  happily, 
—  there  should  be  the  morning  and  evening  family 
devotion.  A  verse  or  two  of  Scripture  should  be 
committed  to  memory,  and  repeated  at  night. 
There  should  be,  at  least,  one  Bible  lesson  of  a 
prudent  length,  to  be  studied  exegetically,  and  as 
one  of  a  series  of  lessons,  running  through  the 
sacred  volume.  In  the  morning  affectionate  warn- 
ing and  counsel  should  be  given,  and  with  consid- 
erable specialty,  as  to  the  duties  and  dangers  of 
the  day ;  and  in  the  evening  the  child  should  be 
gently  assisted  in  reviewing  its  events,  and  kindly 
blamed  or  praised,  as  his  conduct  may  have  been 
marked  by  faults  or  virtues. 

There  is  nothing  of  extravagance  in  this  demand. 
It  requires  nothing  more  than  compliance  with  the 
scriptural  injunction,  "  These  words  which  I  com- 
mand thee  this  day  shall  be  in  thine  heart :  and 
thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto  thy  children  ; 
and  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thy  house, 
and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thou 
liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up"  The  amount 
of  effort  it  prescribes  is  perfectly  easy  to  the  child 
and  to  the  parent,  if  the  law  of  distribution  be  pro- 
perly observed.  The  labour  specified  is  most  easy 
and  agreeable  to  those  who  practise  it  most  punc- 
tually. It  chiefly  consists  in  giving  the  line  upon 
line  ;  the  precept  (not  precepts)  upon  precept ; 
now  a  little,  and  by  and  by  a  little,  not  (a  great 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.  293 

deal)  more.  All  of  children's  lessons  should  be 
short,  but  they  should  occur  at  short  intervals. 
"Little  and  often,"  is  the  maxim  for  their  teachers. 

Now,  where  can  these  requisitions  be  complied 
with,  but  in  the  family,  and  by  the  parents,  espe- 
cially the  mother?  How  meagre  and  unphiloso- 
phical  is  the  Sabbath-school  provision  in  compa- 
rison with  this  !  and  how  poorly  adapted  to  the 
versatile  minds  of  children  !  A  single  lesson  dur- 
ing a  period  requiring  at  least  a  hundred,  looks 
like  spiritual  starvation.  A  grown  Christian  would 
pine  under  such  treatment  :  a  young  one  cannot 
flourish  on  it. 

I  object,  then,  to  the  Sabbath-school  system, 
not  that  it  does  not  do  good,  but  the  unmixed 
good  it  might  do ;  not  that  it  is  praised,  but  that 
it  is  praised  in  too  unqualified  a  manner.  I  com- 
plain not  that  it  undertakes  to  aid  in  the  religious 
education  of  the  young,  but  that  it  attempts  too 
much,  —  even  the  whole  ;  and,  by  engrossing  it, 
conflicts  with  the  indispensable  arrangement  God 
has  made  to  eflfect  this  purpose.  r 

If  the  Sabbath-school  system  profess  to  have 
made  an  arrangement  for  the  moral  culture  of  the 
young,  which  is  inherently  better  than  that  of  the 
family  organization,  then  it  reflects  upon  the  wis- 
dom and  the  goodness  of  the  Creator.  If  it  con- 
template itself  as  a  substitute  for  this,  then  by 
exonerating  parents,  and  making  their  exertions 
useless,  it  is  guilty  of  the  irreligious  attempt  of 
25* 


294  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

trying  to  sunder  an  indissoluble  obligation  ;  and  if 
it  regard  itself  as  merely  the  auxiliary  of  fathers 
and  mothers,  —  the  only  light  in  which  its  perma- 
nent existence  is  desirable,  —  then  we  have  but  to 
lament  that,  in  its  practice,  it  mistakes  so  widely, 
or  so  entirely  forgets,  its  true  design  and  office. 

Before  leaving  this  subject,  I  must  be  permitted 
to  address  a  word  or  two  to  parents,  in  relation 
to  that  duty  which,  next  to  love  to  God,  I  conceive 
to  be  the  first  of  human  duties ;  I  mean  the  duty 
of  paying  early,  incessant,  personal  attentions  to 
the  moral  education  of  their  children. 

Since  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  divine  plan, 
respecting  our  fallen  race,  is  the  restoration  of  the 
soul  to  holiness,  it  might  reasonably  be  expected 
that  suitable  provision,  in  all  respects,  had  been 
made  for  accomplishing  this  benevoient  intention. 
Accordingly,  as  part  of  the  arrangements  for  this 
purpose,  we  find  that  every  individual  is  placed  in 
circumstances  the  most  favourable  which  can  be 
imagined,  for  the  developement  of  his  spiritual 
nature,  and  for  preparing  him,  from  the  opening 
of  his  existence  for  being  useful  on  this  earthly 
theatre,  and  for  a  final  abode  in  the  mansi(.»ns  of  ho- 
liness and  bliss.  The  human  being  is  ushered  into 
existence  apparently  in  the  most  dependent  and 
pitiable  condition  ;  utterly  incapable  of  doing  any 
thing  for  himself,  either  bodily  or  mentally.  He 
is  the  picture  of  helplessness  itself:  but  he  is  far 
from  being  destitute.     Instantly  on  appearing  in 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         295 

the  world  he  is  appropriated  by  an  affection  which 
knows  no  Hmits,  either  in  duration  or  in  strength. 
He  finds  two  watchful  guardians  prepared  to  claim 
him,  whose  greatest  happiness  thenceforth  is,  to 
arise  from  devotion  to  his  welfare.  He  is,  in  re- 
ality, not  more  dependent  upon  them  than  they 
on  him.  They  are  impelled  to  serve  him  by  pa- 
rental love,  —  a  feeling  stronger  than  death,  —  in- 
voluntary, —  intense  beyond  description,  —  and 
completely  untransferable.  "  Floods  cannot  drown 
it,  —  waters  cannot  quench  it."  Nor  is  it  a  blind 
and  unenlightened  feeling.  It  has  intelligence  as 
well  as  strength ;  since  it  is  allied  with  experience 
and  maturity  of  being. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  objects  in  creation 
is  a  new-born  infant.  Whether  we  limit  our  con- 
templations to  his  physical  frame,  the  exquisitely 
planned  machine  with  which  he  is  to  act  on  the 
material  world,  the  wisdom  of  its  contrivance  or 
the  benevolence  of  its  adaptations  ;  or  whether  we 
turn  our  meditations  to  the  immortal  spirit  by 
which  it  is  animated,  "  the  divinity  that  dwells 
within ;"  or  whether  we  contemplate  the  sublim- 
ity of  his  relations  to  the  finite  and  the  infinite,  to 
time  and  to  eternity,  to  man  and  to  his  Maker,  to 
this  world  and  the  next ;  we  are  lost  in  amaze- 
ment, reverence,  and  awe.  Devoted  mother,  little 
dost  thou  know  to  what  thou  hast  given  birth ! 
Fond  and  joyous  parents,  little  do  ye  realize  the 
stupendous  task  you  have  incurred  I     The  little 


296         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

babe,  whose  helpless  frame  is  fondled  in  your  arms 
or  dandled  on  your  knee,  is  more  than  to  your 
outward  eye  it  seems  to  be.  It  is  a  germ  whose 
expansion  will  be  boundless.  It  is  an  emanation 
from  the  Deity  ;  a  fiend  or  angel  in  disguise  ;  and 
on  you  devolves  the  tremendous  responsibility  of 
choosing  its  destiny  —  whether  it  shall  prove  a 
blessing  or  a  scourge  to  this  world,  a  demon  or  an 
arch-angel  in  the  world  to  come. 

And  think  not  to  evade  the  duties  of  your  sta- 
tion, nor  to  shift  its  obligations.  You  have  vol- 
untarily assumed  a  relation  from  which  death 
only  can  release  you  ;  your  accountabiUty  cannot 
be  alienated.  For  yourselves  there  is  no  substi- 
tute. You  cannot  delegate  the  duties  of  your  of- 
fice to  others.  You  may  surround  yourselves  with 
hired  teachers,  and  with  any  other  facilities  your 
means  allow  ;  but  remember  they  are  but  auxilia- 
ries ;  you  yourselves  are  to  be  its  educators.  You 
may  appropriate  the  aids  afforded  by  the  Sabbath- 
school  ;  but  beware  how  you  suffer  its  advantages 
to  curtail  your  own  devotedness.  To  you  has  the 
keeping  and  the  culture  of  an  immortal  spirit  been 
committed,  and  of  you  solely  will  an  account  of 
its  treatment  be  exacted. 

Here,  however,  I  would  take  occasion  to  sug- 
gest a  caution,  for  which  I  am  indebted  to  a  mother 
whose  fidelity  and  skill  in  managing  her  children 
aie  above  all  praise  ;  a  caution  which,  as  she 
maintains,  is  made  particularly  necessary  by  the 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         297 

tenour  of  the  writings,  and  the  tone  of  public  sen- 
timent on  early  education  within  the  last  half  cen- 
tury. From  the  venerable  Pestalozzi  down  to  the 
most  recent  author,  the  general  tendency  has  been 
to  concentrate  on  the  mother  the  whole  of  paren- 
tal responsibility  in  relation  to  the  education  of 
the  young.  This  is  certainly  a  mistake,  and  a 
serious  one.  The  mother  is  not  even  principal  in 
this  momentous  business.  The  only  direction 
respecting  the  management  of  children  given  in 
the  New  Testament  is  addressed  io  fathers  :  "and 
ye  fathers  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath, 
but  train  them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition 
of  the  Lord."  This  implies  most  philosophically 
the  whole  of  moral  education. 

Every  where,  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment, the  father  is  regarded  as  the  head  of  the 
family.  In  him  resides  the  authority,  and  conse- 
quently his  is  the  chief  responsibility.  The  wo- 
man was  formed  only  as  a  help-mate  to  Adam ; 
and  such  is  the  mother  to  the  father  in  the  man- 
agement of  children.  The  facts  that  she  is  pecu- 
liarly fitted  by  natural  disposition  for  the  delight- 
ful task,  and  that  the  customary  distribution  of 
social  duties  afford  her  facilities  and  opportunities 
which  are  denied  her  husband,  do  not  exonerate 
the  father  from  his  obligations  as  king  of  his  little 
empire.  This  he  cannot  part  with.  It  is  insepa- 
rable from  the  relation  which  he  occupies. 

True,  it  is  impossible   to  overrate  the  impor- 


298  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

tance  of  the  mother.  Her  aid  is  indispensable, 
and  the  circumstances  above  alluded  to  designate 
the  part  she  has  to  act.  On  her,  of  right,  devolve 
the  numbeiless  details  of  execution  which  the 
father's  avocations  forbid  his  seeing  to.  Still  his 
is  none  the  less  the  duty  of  attending  to  the  edu- 
cation of  his  children,  because  the  part  assigned 
him  is  that  of  supervision.  This  does  not  usually 
lessen  the  responsibility  nor  care  of  a  president,  a 
governor,  a  general,  or  an  overseer,  in  any  station. 
To  the  father  it  belongs  to  plan  and  to  direct, 
to  study  and  to  read,  that  he  may  be  able  to 
assist,  with  suitable  counsel,  his  more  dependent 
agent ;  to  sustain  her  by  his  authority  ;  to  furnish, 
to  the  best  of  his  ability,  all  the  requisite  facilities 
for  a  pleasant  and  successful  execution  of  her 
task  ;  and  especially  so  to  regulate  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  household,  both  as  to  various  domes- 
tic conveniences  and  to  help,  that  the  mother 
shall  have  ample  and  uninterrupted  leisure  to 
perform  her  part  in  the  common  task  of  training 
up  their  offspring  in  the  way  that  they  should  go. 


I  come  next  to  speak  of  the  moral  influence  of 
the  boarding-school  system  ;  and  here  I  feel  con- 
strained to  remark  that  of  all  the  means  proposed 
for  accomplishing  the  great  work  of  moral  educa- 
tion,   boarding-schools    are    the  most  imperfect 


APPEAL  TO  THE   CLERGY.  299 

and  exceptionable.  They  are  wrong  in  principle  ; 
anti-republican  in  their  tendency;  unfriendly  to 
the  spread  of  education ;  appropriable  by  few ; 
while  for  the  most  part  they  disappoint  the  ex- 
pectations they  excite. 

They  are  wrong  in  principle,  because  they  con- 
flict with  the  natural  institution  provided  for  the 
moral  training  of  the  young,  the  family  organiza- 
tion. The  general  theory  of  boarding-schools  is, 
that  they  are  large  families  under  a  delegated 
parental  government.  Now  what  does  this  imply, 
but  that  strangers  can  take  better  care  of  a  large 
number  of  children,  than  the  natural  guardians 
whom  infinite  wisdom  has  provided,  can  of  a  few  ? 
that  is,  that  man  can  make  better  arrangements 
for  his  moral  well  being  than  God  has  made  ;  can 
improve  upon  the  plans  devised  by  infinite  per- 
fection ?  it 

Even  under  the  choicest  circumstances,  board- 
ing-schools must  of  necessity  be  wanting  in  some 
of  the  most  delicate,  yet  powerful  means  of  moral 
influence  which  appertain  to  the  family,  and  which 
can  never  be  imitated  in  any  artificial  institution.  For 
example,  the  chief  source  of  moral  influence  in 
the  family  is  in  the  mother, — in  "  woman's  love  ;" 
and  who  will  have  the  presumption  to  undertake 
to  find  an  equivalent  for  a  pious,  faithful,  and  ju- 
dicious mother  ?  In  her  affectionate  rebuke,  her 
fond  embrace,  her  smiles,  her  tears,  her  kiss,  her 
look  of  approbation  ;  there  is  a  winning  influence, 


300  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

a  subduing  power,  a  transforming  efficacy,  which 
we  should  seek  in  vain  in  any  other  quarter.  Now 
all  these  are  lost  to  children  sent  to  boarding- 
schools. 

Again  ;  there  is  nothing  which  can  compensate 
for  the  loss  of  the  softening  and  refining  effects  of 
female  society  upon  the  harsher  character  of  males. 
Accordingly,  infinite  goodness  has  placed  boys  in 
a  situation,  where  they  grow  up  and  form  their 
character,  in  constant  and  intimate  association 
with  a  mother,  with  sisters,  and  perhaps  with 
other  female  relatives.  Boarding-schools  deprive 
them  entirely  of  these  advantages,  and  confine 
them  to  the  society  of  males. 

Another  evil  of  great  magnitude  connected 
with  educating  boys  away  from  home,  is,  that  it 
tends  to  lessen  filial  and  fraternal  love.  I  know  it 
may  be  said,  and  correctly  too,  that  separation 
often  gives  intensity  to  family  affection.  But  this 
is  true  only  of  absence  which  is  occasional  and 
temporary.  The  effect  of  that  which  is  habitual 
and  permanent  is  just  the  reverse ;  and  to  derive 
the  full  benefit  of  boarding-school  instruction, 
boys  must  continue  at  them  from  four  to  seven 
years. 

Another  great  and  irremediable  defect  in  the 
boarding-school  system,  is,  that  out  of  school  hours 
it  throws  children  for  the  most  part  into  the  society 
of  children.  In  the  family  where  God  has  placed 
them,  their  association  is,  or  may  be,  chiefly  with 


APPEAI.  TO  THE  CLERGY.  301 

daults.  Such  is  evidently  the  design  of  Provi- 
dence, in  which  we  discover  equal  benevolence 
and  wisdom.  It  is  exactly  suited  to  the  laws  of 
the  imitative  propensity  which  he  has  made  ex- 
ceedingly strong  in  children,  which  contributes 
more  than  all  other  things  together  to  form 
their  disposition,  character,  and  manners.  Cha- 
racter of  almost  every  description  is  borrowed. 
There  are  few  originals  in  the  world  ;  indeed, 
none  that  are  absolutely  such.  This  is  true  of 
men  separately  and  in  masses  ;  of  families  ;  neigh- 
bourhoods ;  communities ;  nations  and  genera- 
tions, as  well  as  of  individuals.  We  are  in  almost 
all  respects  copied  from  our  seniors  ;  we  are  but 
transcripts  of  which  they  are  the  originals.  There 
is  no  influence  comparable  in  strength  to  that  of 
mental  friction,  the  action  of  mind  on  mind,  of 
heart  on  heart.  We  imperceptibly  and  involunta- 
rily imbibe  the  disposition  and  sentiments  of  those 
with  whom  we  associate ;  —  iron  in  contact  with 
a  magnet  is  not  more  sure  to  acquire  its  myste- 
rious property.  Hence  the  infinite  importance  of 
putting  proper  models  before  children.  Accord- 
ingly a  wise  and  benevolent  Creator,  by  the 
family  arrangement,  places  them  in  immediate 
and  constant  association  with  a  couple  of  individ- 
uals whose  characters  are  formed,  and  ought  to  be, 
and  may  be,  such  as  it  would  be  desirable  for 
them  to  imitate. 

The  principle  of  boarding-schools  is  directly 
26 


302  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERaY. 

opposed  to  this  arrangement.  Providence  locates 
children  in  the  society  of  adults.  Boarding- 
schools  transfer  them  to  the  society  of  children. 
God  places  them  in  contact  with  matured  cha- 
racter. Boarding-schools  bring  them  in  juxta-po- 
sition  with  that  which  is  unformed  and  immature. 

It  will  not  do  to  say,  as  an  offset  to  this  objec- 
tion, that  at  boarding-schools  their  teachers  mingle 
with  the  children  in  their  plays,  and  superintend 
even  their  hours  of  relaxation.  I  know  this  is  the 
theory ;  but,  generally  speaking,  its  execution  is 
impracticable,  partly  from  the  fact  that  children, 
when  they  have  an  opportunity,  prefer,  and  will 
have,  the  society  of  those  of  their  own  age  ;  and 
partly  from  the  difficult}  (the  impossibility  I  might 
almost  say,)  of  getting  teachers,  in  any  numbers, 
who  from  natural  disposition,  or  for  conscience 
sake,  acquire  the  art  of  completely  identifying 
themselves  with  their  pupils,  and  who  feel  a  pro- 
per solicitude  for  their  moral  as  well  as  their  in- 
tellectual improvement. 

The  social  propensity  in  children  is  surprisingly 
strong;  and  if  its  cravings  be  not  allowed  too  many 
other  opportunities  of  indulgence,  they  will  be  per- 
fectly happy  and  contented  in  the  profitable  society 
of  their  parents.  But,  on  the  contrary,  if  we  give 
them  a  chance  to  gratify  this  instinct,  either  at 
home  or  in  the  neighbourhood,  or  at  the  boarding- 
school,  by  associating  with  other  children,  they 
will  invariably  do  so,  and  will  be  far  more  under 


r 


APPEAL  TO  THB  GLEROY.  303 

each  other's  influence  than  under  that  of  adults. 
As  a  teacher  and  a  father,  1  know  not  that  I  could 
state  another  fact  of  equal  moment  on  the  sub- 
ject of  practical  education.  The  most  powerful 
moral  influence  to  which  children  can  be  subjected 
resides  in  their  playmates.  There  is  a  public  sen- 
timent in  the  play -ground  which  is  altogether  irre- 
sistible. Moral  courage  is  a  virtue  which  presup- 
poses a  good  deal  of  experience.  It  is  the  fruit 
of  cultivation,  and  is  rare  among  adults.  It  can- 
not, therefore,  be  expected  that  children  should 
possess  it  in  an  eminent  degree ;  and  yet,  in  their 
association  with  each  other,  there  is  no  virtue  of 
which  they  have  greater  need.  In  a  miscellaneous 
assemblage  of  twenty  children,  there  will,  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten,  be  some  whose  moral  culture  has 
been  neglected  ;  and  all  other  things  being  equal, 
a  bad  boy  will  have  far  greater  influence  than  a 
good  one. 

For  proof  of  the  truth  of  these  assertions,  it  is 
quite  suflScient  that  I  refer  the  reader  to  his  re- 
collections of  his  school-boy  days.  Among  chil- 
dren, as  among  adults,  the  decidedly  good  are  in 
a  small  minority ;  and  those  whose  principles  and 
habits  have  not  acquired  a  very  unusual  strength, 
are  extremely  apt  to  become  assimilated  to  the 
mass.  It  is  hard  for  human  nature  not  to  "  follow 
the  multitude  to  do  evil."  There  are  few  tenden- 
cies stronger  than  that  which  urges  men  to  fall  in 
with  the  popular  current.    It  is  difficult  for  an 


304  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLEROY. 

adult  to  be  singular ;  it  must  be  much  more  so  for 
a  child.  Every  collection  of  children  have  their 
habits  of  thinking,  —  of  feeling,  —  and  of  acting  ; 
and  no  where  is  fashion  more  arbitrary  and  tyran- 
nical than  in  the  juvenile  circle. 

In  the  region  of  country  where  the  author  passed 
his  childhood,  false  and  premature  notions  of  man- 
liness, cherished  about  the  school-house,  did  more 
harm  (as  is  manifest  from  the  subsequent  history 
of  his  playmates,)  than  almost  any  other  cause  to 
which  his  mind  reverts.  In  the  youthful  com- 
munity, —  wbere  to  smoke,  to  drink,  to  swear^ 
are  looked  upon  as  indications  of  a  maa;  where 
the  independent  lad  is  he  who  can  laugh  at  the 
restraints  of  conscience,  and  affect  a  swaggering 
indifference  to  domestic  authority  ;  who  can  crack 
his  jokes  about  the  adroitness  with  which  he  cheats 
"  the  old  man,"  or  "  the  old  woman,"  by  evading 
their  laws ;  in  short,  whose  boast  is,  that  he  does 
as  he  pleases  ;  the  virtue  of  even  a  young  Socrates 
would  scarce  be  safe.  Escape  from  corruption, 
in  such  a  case,  is  certainly  providential,  —  not  to 
say  miraculous. 

Now,  this  is  the  case,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
in  every  society  of  children.  They  will  have  their 
private  communications  of  sentiments  and  feelings; 
the  most  rigid  system  of  espionage  would  not  be 
able  to  prevent  it ;  and  in  despite  of  every  precau- 
tion to  the  contrary,  these  will  do  more  to  form 
their  character  than  all  the  direct  or  indirect  in- 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         305 

struction  of  their  teachers.  Hence  it  is,  that, 
generally  speaking,  the  pupils  do  more  to  give 
character  to  the  school,  than  the  school  to  give 
character  to  them. 

The  most  delightful  specimens  of  correct  moral 
education  I  have  ever  seen,  have  been  in  cases 
where  the  chief  society  of  children,  for  a  number 
of  years  together,  had  been  that  of  their  parents  ; 
and  where,  by  a  kind  of  moral  absorption,  the  sen- 
timents and  feelings  of  the  father  and  the  mother 
had  been  imperceptibly  transfused  into  the  bosoms 
of  their  offspring.  But,  in  all  such  instances  that 
1  have  had  an  opportunity  to  notice,  the  circum- 
stances of  the  family  were  such,  that  the  children 
had  not  the  choice  of  the  society  of  children.  This 
seems  indispensable.  Give  them  such  a  choice, 
and  in  a  large  majority  of  instances,  they  will  pre- 
fer it.  I  am  sure  1  speak  to  the  experience  of  such 
parents  as  feel  the  importance  of  this  principle,  and 
yet  whose  circumstances  are  adverse  to  its  appli- 
cation. They  know  how  hard  it  is  to  make  their 
children  love  their  company,  when  there  are  in 
the  neighbourhood  other  boys  and  girls  who  are 
constantly  soliciting  association  with  them. 

Even  with  the  choicest  corps  of  teachers,  then, 
tha  evils  that  arise  from  too  much  juvenile  society 
could  not  be  prevented ;  but  where  is  the  super- 
intendent of  a  boarding-school  who  is,  at  all  times, 
able  to  command  just  such  a  set  of  teachers  as  he 
could  desire,  and  as  he  stands  in  need  of?  The 
26* 


306         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGV. 

usual  requirements  of  scholarship  and  aptness  to 
teach,  (the  latter  of  which  few  possess  in  an  emi- 
nent degree,)  are  nothing  in  comparison  with  the 
moral  quahfications  that  should  appertain  to  an 
assistant  in  a  boarding-school.  He  must  be  able 
to  practise  a  playful  familiarity  with  his  pupils,  and 
yet  maintain  his  dignity  ;  in  other  words,  to  be  the 
boy  and  the  man  at  the  same  time.  He  must  pos- 
sess the  extremely  rare  quality  of  governing  with 
strictness,  and  yet  of  making  his  subjects  love  him. 
If  he  relax  in  discipline,  he  will  cease  to  be  re- 
spected ;  and  if  he  rigidly  enforce  authority,  there 
is  danger  lest  he  be  disliked. 

But  this  is  very  far  from  being  the  whole  of 
the  difficulty.  To  realize  the  theory  of  a  board- 
ing-school, all  its  teachers  must  be  men  possessing 
an  unusual  degree,  of  piety.  From  a  just  and  ne- 
cessary regard  to  economy,  they  are  for  the  most 
part  unmarried  men  ;  and  yet  they  are  professed- 
ly appointed  to  perform  the  most  difficult  and 
solemn  of  parental  duties.  Their  benevolence  of 
disposition,  and  their  sensibility  of  conscience, 
therefore,  must  be  be  truly  great  to  enable  them 
to  execute  with  constancy,  fidelity,  and  skill,  the 
arduous  task  of  training  up  the  young  in  the  ways 
of  piety  and  virtue  without  either  the  impulse  or 
support  of  the  parental  instinct.  If  even  religious 
fathers  can  reconcile  it  to  themselves  to  be  re- 
miss in  the  moral  culture  of  their  sons,  (and  few 
things  are  more  common,)  how  great  is  the  im- 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         307 

probability  that  a  set  of  youths,  not  at  all  related 
to  them,  should  be  more  conscientious  and  pains- 
taking ?  That  system  cannot  be  susceptible  of 
general  application,  nor  be  otherwise  than  theo- 
retically good,  whose  execution  depends  upon  the 
contingency  of  finding  young  men  who  shall  be 
more  concerned  for  the  moral  welfare  of  children 
than  pious  parents  are  themselves.  As  a  rare 
occurrence,  such  an  instance  may  possibly  be 
found ;  but  the  general  rule,  from  the  very  nature 
of  things,  must  be  diHerent. 

From  long  experience,  I  know  something  of 
the  difficulty  of  obtaining  really  good  assistants 
for  merely  intellectual  instruction.  Every  head 
of  a  college  or  extensive  school,  knows  how  hard 
it  is  to  be  suited  in  this  respect.  A  distinguished 
professor,  (whose  name,  were  I  at  liberty  to  use 
it,  would  add  great  weight  to  the  statement,) 
once  informed  me,  that  in  the  course  of  eighteen 
years,  and  with  the  opportunity  of  an  annual 
choice  from  graduating  classes,  he  had  not  been 
able  to  get  more  than  two  or  three  tutors  to 
please  him.  As  a  general  rule,  young  men  who  are 
ushers,  teach  solely  for  the  remuneration.  This 
being  their  principal  inducement,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  they  will  bestow  more  attention  to 
their  pupils  than  will  barely  satisfy  their  contract. 
If  they  devote  themselves  assiduously  and  faith- 
fully during  the  six  or  seven  tuition  hours,  their 
task  is  done.     They  then  desire  relaxation,  or 


308  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

they  wish  to  study  for  their  own  improvement. 
It  rarely  indeed  occurs  that  principle  or  inclina- 
tion causes  assistant  teachers  to  pay  extra  atten- 
tion to  their  pupils.  Now  if  this  be  the  case 
where  intellectual  education  is  exclusively  or 
chiefly  aimed  at,  how  greatly  must  the  improba- 
bility of  procuring  suitable  assistants  be  increased 
both  in  number  and  in  force,  where  the  formation 
of  the  manners,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  affec- 
tions are  attempted  ? 

I  grant  that  it  is  better  for  a  child  to  be  at  a 
good  boarding-school,  than  in  a  bad  family  ;  and 
it  is  precisely  upon  this  principle  that  boarding- 
schools,  as  well  as  Sunday-schools,  have  become  ne- 
cessary ;  for  far  be  it  from  me  to  wage  an  uncondi- 
tional warfare  against  these  institutions.  I  grant 
that  the  imperfect  moral  training  which  can  be 
given  at  boarding-schools  and  Sunday-schools  w 
a  less  evil,  and  therefore  better  than  almost  total 
neglect  at  home  ;  and  that  on  this  account  they  are 
made  not  only  necessary  but  desirable.  Whilst 
I  say  this,  however,  I  would  be  very  careful  to 
state  that  I  consider  them  desirable  only  as  tem- 
porary substitutes ;  and  so  far  as  I  animadvert 
upon  them  at  all,  I  do  it  chiefly  because  their  real 
object  appears  to  have  been  misconceived,  and 
they  seem  to  have  been  offered  to  the  world  as 
permanent  expedients,  affording  greater  moral  ad- 
vantages than  can  he  enjoyed  under  any  other  cir- 
cumstances.    I  have  yet  to  see  the  prospectus  of 


APPEAL  TO  THE   CLERGY.  309 

the  boarding-school,  and  to  hear  the  first  speech 
in  favour  of  Sabbath-schools,  which  shall  mourn 
over  the  necessity  of  establishing  such  institu- 
tions, and  which  shall  strive  to  rebuke  the  awful 
remissness  (for  it  is  awful  in  its  consequences,)  of 
those  fathers  and  mothers,  who,  instead  of  nursing 
the  religious  and  moral  character  of  their  off- 
spring within  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  family, 
can  reconcile  it  to  themselves  (and  too  frequently 
for  no  better  reason  than  to  get  rid  of  trouble,) 
to  send  them  off  to  moral  hospitals. 

While,  therefore,  I  admit  that  "  it  is  better  for 
a  child  to  be  at  a  good  boarding-school  than  in  a 
bad  family,"  I  must  maintain  that  a  bad  family  is 
preferable,  in  point  of  moral  influence,  to  a  bad 
boarding-school,  and  a  good  family  to  a  good 
boarding-school.  If  the  former  had  over  the  lat- 
ter no  other  advantage  than  in  size,  this  were 
sufficient.  For  the  great  purpose  of  moral  edu- 
cation, Providence  has  distributed  the  young  of 
the  human  family  into  schools  not  exceeding  an 
average  of  five  or  six.  Boarding-schools  would 
assemble  them  by  fifties,  or  by  hundreds.  Even 
under  the  most  perfect  organization,  a  boarding- 
school  is  not  entitled  to  the  appellation  of  a  fami- 
ly at  all,  since  it  is  necessarily  destitute  of  some 
of  the  most  essential  qualities  of  this  divine  insti- 
tution, a  family  being  a  society  of  the  nearest  rela- 
tives, and  of  both  sexes  ;  neither  of  which  can  in 
any  case  be  true  of  the  best  boarding-school.  But 


310         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

conceding  its  right  to  the  title  which  it  generally 
assumes,  a  boarding-school  is  still  an  overgrown 
family,  in  which  many  different  sets  of  children 
are  assembled ;  and  this  circumstance  alone,  for 
obvious  reasons,  must  augment  the  difficulties  of 
moral  discipline  a  hundred-fold. 

It  may  not  be  superfluous  to  state  that  these 
objections  do  not  appertain  to  colleges  ;  for  these 
are,  or  ought  to  be,  composed  oi  young  men,  (not 
of  children,)  whose  characters  may  have  been 
formed,  and  in  a  good  degree,  confirmed  at  home  ; 
nor  yet,  in  an  equal  degree,  to  those  academies 
and  schools  which  are  so  near  that  children  attend- 
ing them  may  be  at  home  as  often  as  once  in  ev- 
ery week  or  two.  The  great  truth  for  which  I 
contend,  is,  that  home  is  the  natural  place,  the  best 
moral  nursery  for  children  ;  and  that  it  is  infi- 
nitely better  to  carry  the  school  to  titem,  than  to 
take  them  to  the  school.  The  practice  of  sending 
children  away  from  home  to  school,  is,  beyond 
comparison,  worse  than  the  unnatural  system  of 
putting  infants  out  to  nurse. 

I  speak  with  earnestness  and  at  length  upon 
this  subject,  because  of  the  great  and  growing 
tendency  there  is  in  the  United  States,  to  encou- 
rage foreign  education.  The  Northern  States  cal- 
culate with  as  much  certainty,  (and  provide  for 
it  almost  as  systematically)  to  manufacture  the 
mind  of  the  Southern  States,  as  they  do  to  man- 
ufacture their  raw  cotton ;  and  even  in  the  £ast- 


APPEAL    TO  THE    CLERGY.  311 

ern  States  themselves,  every  one  who  has  been  in 
the  habit  of  noticing  the  advertisements  in  papers 
of  a  literary  cast,  must  have  observed  the  rapid 
multiplication  of  boarding-schools  ;  whilst  the 
country  adjacent  to  the  Ohio,  and  to  the  middle 
portion  of  the  Mississippi  river,  is  becoming  stud- 
ded with  institutions  for  educating  the  children  of 
almost  the  whole  south-western  section  of  the 
Union. 

Besides  the  moral  evils  of  this  practice,  (which 
I  am  more  immediately  concerned  to  notice,) 
arising  from  the  separation  of  children  from  their 
homes,  and  the  consequent  alienation  of  family 
affection,  from  the  abstraction  of  boys  from  fe- 
male society,  from  the  substitution  of  juvenile  for 
adult  company,  and  from  too  free  an  indulgence 
with  the  use  of  money  which  is  almost  unavoid- 
able ;  there  are  one  or  two  others,  to  which, 
as  being  particularly  injurious  to  the  cause  of  ed- 
ucation, I  beg  leave  hastily  to  refer. 

The  hoarding-school  STjstem  operates  as  a  serious 
hinderance  to  the  spread  of  education.  It  is  univer- 
sally true  that  those  regions  of  country  where 
the  custom  of  sending  children  abroad  to  receive 
instruction  extensively  prevails,  are  poorly  sup- 
plied with  the  means  of  education  at  home.  This 
is  easily  accounted  for.  It  is  only  the  rich  who 
can  afford  the  expense  of  foreign  education,  and 
the  resources  of  the  neighbourhood  are  so  much 
weakened  by  the  loss  of  their  co-operation  and 


%¥ 


312  APPEAL    TO    THE    CLERGY. 

interest,  that  the  remainder  cannot  afford,  or  have 
not  the  spirit,  to  sustain  a  good  school.  It  results 
of  course,  that  but  comparatively  few  enjoy  the 
blessing  of  a  good  education. 

The  costliness  of  boarding-school  instruction  is 
another  circumstance  which  confines  its  benefits 
to  a  very  small  portion  of  society.  To  erect  and 
furnish  a  building  capable  of  accommodating  a 
hundred  pupils  would  require,  at  the  lowest  cal- 
culation, the  investment  of  twenty-thousand  dol- 
lars ;  a  sum  sufficient  to  build  forty  good  com- 
mon school-houses  at  five  hundred  dollars  each, 
and  which  would  be  sufficient  to  contain  with 
comfort  at  least  two  thousand  pupils.  Again ; 
the  board,  pocket-money,  and  travelling  expenses 
of  a  hundred  boys  at  two-hundred  dollars  each, 
would  amount  to  twenty-thousand  dollars  annually, 
or  enough,  at  ten  dollars,  which  is  above  the  av- 
erage price  of  common  school  instruction  in  the 
United  States,  to  pay  for  the  instruction  of  two 
thousand  scholars. 

If  the  money  expended  in  buying  bread  and 
meat  at  boarding-schools  were  spent  in  tuition  fees 
at  home,  not  only  would  the  amount  of  education 
be  increased,  but  what  is  a  matter,  if  possible,  of 
still  greater  momer.t,  its  quality  would  be  vastly 
improved.  The  quality  of  education,  like  that  of 
every  thing  else,  will  bear  a  very  close  relation  to 
its  price  ;  and  supposing  that  the  cost  of  support- 
ing half  a  dozen  boys  abroad  were  added  to  the 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         313 

tuition  fees  which  the  rest  of  the  neighbourhood 
could  easily  afford  to  pay,  it  is  obvious  that  a 
very  superior  kind  of  education  might  be  brought 
within  the  reach  of  all. 

I  rejoice  to  see  this  subject  beginning  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  Southern  and  South-western 
portions  of  our  country.  The  contribution  which 
they  annually  pay  to  other  States  for  the  educa- 
tion of  a  very  few  of  their  children,  is  enormous. 
But  the  loss  of  money  is  a  trifling  consideration, 
in  comparison  with  other  evils  which  appertain 
to  the  foreign  or  boarding-school  system  of  ed- 
ucation, not  the  least  of  which,  as  I  have  already 
stated,  is,  that  by  dividing  the  interest  and  the  pe- 
cuniary strength  of  neighbourhoods,  the  multipli- 
cation of  the  means  of  popular  instruction  at  home, 
is  greatly  hindered.  Only  let  those  portions  of  the 
Union  to  which  I  have  alluded,  heartily  unite 
their  efforts  in  support  of  institutions  of  their  own, 
offering  such  salaries  to  teachers  of  every  grade 
as  would  comport  with  the  large  ;  nd  liberal  spirit 
characteristic  of  the  South  ;  and  if  there  be  any 
truth  in  the  doctrines  of  political  economy,  they 
cannot  fail  to  attract  to  themselves  instructers 
who  will  give  them,  at  their  homes,  a  kind  of  edu- 
cation equal,  if  not  superior,  to  any  they  could  find 
abroad. 

Having  expressed  my  reasons  for  believing  that 
the  means,  at  present  relied  on  for  forming  the 
moral  character  of  the  children  of  the  nation, 
27 


314  APPEAL  TO  THE   CLEROT. 

"  are  altogether  inadequate,"  I  proceed  to  specify 
the  superior  recommendations  which  the  common 
school  system  possesses,  as  an  instrument  to  effect 
this  object ;  and  to  point  out  the  manner  in  which 
the  clergy,  above  any  other  class  of  men,  may  pro- 
mote its  interests,  and  thereby  the  interests  of  re- 
ligious education. 

The  advantages  which  the  common  school  sys- 
tem possesso  -,  over  those  of  the  Sunday-school 
and  boarding-school,  are,  that  it  may  be  made  to 
embrace  all  the  children  of  the  nation ;  to  employ 
competent  teachers  for  their  instruction  ;  to  repeat 
their  lessons  with  sufficient  frequency ;  to  conduct 
their  education  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of 
their  homes  ;  and  that  it  does  not  conflict  with  fam- 
ily education. 

The  illustration  and  proof  upon  these  points  may 
be  very  brief.  The  facts  stated  in  the  first  and 
fourth,  are  manifest  from  the  operation  of  the  com- 
mon school  system,  wherever  it  has  been  wisely 
established.  In  New-York  and  Massachusetts,  for 
example,  out  of  seven  hundred  thousand  children, 
only  a  very  few  thousands  are  not  enrolled  in  the 
common  schools,  which  are  not  distant  more  than 
a  mile  from  the  doors  of  a  very  large  majority. 

There  is  no  process  of  reasoning  which  can  so 
forcibly  demonstrate  the  superior  importance  of 
the  common  schools,  as  the  simple  fact,  that  where 
they  are  established,  nineteen  twentieths  of  our  citi- 
zens begin  and  end  their  education  in  them  !    That 


APPEAL    TO    THE    CLEROY.  315 

is,  out  of  the  four  millions  of  children  supposed  to 
be  in  the  United  States,  three  millions  eight  hun- 
dred thousand  would  be  in  the  common  schools, 
while  only  two  hundred  thousand  would  be  left 
at  boarding  and  private  schools. 

Now,  just  look,  for  a  moment,  at  the  compara- 
tive cost  to  the  nation  for  education  in  these.  Al- 
lowing eight  dollars  for  each  pupil,  (which  is  four 
times  as  much  as  has  been  paid  in  New-York,  until 
this  year,)  the  entire  cost  of  instructing  the  four 
millions  of  children  would  be  only  thirty-two  mil- 
lions of  dollars  ;  whilst  the  expense,  (including 
board,  tuition,  travelling  money,  and  numerous 
extras;  and  allowing  two  hundred  dollars  for  each 
boy,)  of  educating  only  two  hundred  thousand  at 
boarding-schools,  would  be  forty  millions  !  I  leave 
the  reflecting  to  make  their  own  inferences. 

In  asserting  that  in  the  common  schools  children 
would  receive  religious  as  well  as  other  instruction, 
at  the  hands  of  competent  teachers,  I  take  it  for 
granted  that  provision  shall  have  been  made  for 
their  prq/e55io«aZ  education,  and  that  a  critical  study 
of  the  Bible  shall  constitute  a  part  of  this  education, 
to  which  state  things  will  certainly  be  brought,  if 
the  clergy  will  only  be  as  active  as  they  should 
be,  in  trying  to  persuade  the  public  mind  of  its 
necessity.  Now,  supposing  teachers  of  a  proper 
character  to  be  thus  trained,  it  is  evident  that  they 
will  be  able  to  impart  a  higher  grade  of  instruction 
from  the  Bible  than  parents  can.     Here,  then,  is 


316  APrSAL  TO  TUB  CX.SRGr. 

the  important  point  of  difference  between  Sabbath- 
sebools  and  common  schools,  as  to  the  opportuni- 
ties they  afford  for  religious  instruction.  For  the 
reason  just  given,  the  common  school  teachers 
will  always  have  an  advantage  over  parents,  and 
will  be  able  ta  add  something  to  the  best  instruc- 
tion they  can  give  at  home.  Not  so  the  Sunday- 
school  teachers.  These  \%all  always  be,,  for  the 
most  part,  young  persons  who  cannot  be  as  good 
at  teaching  before  as  after  marriage,  provided  they 
continue  to  practise  in  their  families.  In  this  event,, 
therefore,  the  family  must  be  able  to  do  more  for 
children  than  Sunday-schools  can^  and  must  there- 
fore supersede  them^ 


''As  to  the  manner  in  which  the  clergy  may 
promote  the  interests  of  popular  education,  I  re- 
mark in  general  that  they  may  do  so  by  a  great 
variety  of  incidental  methods,  the  whole  of  which 
cannot  be  specified.  For  instance,  they  may  make 
it  the  frequent  subject  of  their  conversation,  they 
may  induce  their  parishoners  to  read  about  it,  and 
furnish  them  at  the  same  time,  with  means  of  in- 
formation. They  may  occasionally  supply  the 
neighbouring  press  with  articles  upon  the  subject, 
and  stimulate  the  editor  to  advocate  its  claims. 
They  may  do  much  to  encourage  teachers  by 
visiting  their  scixoolsj  attending  their  ex;anxiniitions^ 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLEROT.  317 

and  prevailing  upon  the  parents  of  the  children  to 
do  so  likewise  ;  and  even  from  the  sacred  desk, 
they  may  and  should,  with  frequency  and  earnest- 
ness, call  the  attention  of  their  people  to  the  nature 
and  advantages  of  general  education.  In  these 
and  a  hundred  other  ways  which  experience  will 
best  point  out,  they  may  contribute  materially  to 
the  promotion  of  this  hallowed  cause.  And  when 
we  reflect  how  many  thousand  clergymen  there 
are  in  the  United  States,  what  might  not  be  an- 
ticipated from  a  combined,  harmonious  effort  on 
their  part  ?  Acting  in  co-operation  with  other 
friends  of  education,  only  let  them  all  consider 
themselves  as  responsible  agents  in  their  respective 
spheres,  charged  with  enlightening  the  public  mind 
as  to  the  true  nature  and  worth  of  education,  with 
circulating  the  same  views,  guarding  the  people 
against  mistakes  of  practice  and  opinion,  and  ex- 
citing them  to  a  liberal  provision  of  the  means  to 
meet  the  current  expenses  of  their  schools ;  and 
ten  years  need  not  elapse  before  public  opinion 
throughout  the  Union  shall  have  experienced  a 
complete  and  healthy  revolution.  Before  leaving 
this  branch  of  the  subject,  however,  there  are  one 
or  two  expedients  for  influencing  public  opinion, 
which  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  clergy  to  employ, 
which  in  consequence  of  their  importance  I  think 
worthy  of  particular  notice. 

Might  not  the  clergy  make  use  of  the  "  Tract 
System"  with  great  effect  for  promoting  the  interests 
of  education  ? 

27* 


318  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

By  means  of  tracts,  the  views  of  Rush  and 
Cousin  and  Guizot  and  Grimke  and  Washington, 
and  others  on  the  political  importance  of  religious 
education,  might  be  made  familiar  to  almost  every 
family  in  the  nation.  In  the  same  way  correct 
views  might  be  propagated  respecting  the  impolicy 
of  employing  cheap  teachers,  the  economy  of  lib- 
eral expenditures  to  procure  good  education,  the 
real  state  and  condition  of  education  in  the  United 
States,  the  dignity  and  importance  of  the  office  of 
a  teacher,  the  responsibilities  of  parents  as  to  the 
education  of  their  children^  the  part  which  legisla- 
tion should  and  may  perform  in  this  great  work, 
and  many  other  topics  that  might  be  mentioned. 

Another  way  in  which  the  clergy  may  render 
essential  service  to  the  cause  of  education,  would 
be  by  taking  care  that  in  all  the  libraries  of  common 
schools  there  should  he  a  suitable  proportion  of 
moral  and  religious  books. 

If  it  be  true  that  "  the  ballads  of  a  people,"  ex- 
^rt  a  greater  influence  than  the  laws,  they  who 
prescribe  the  reading  of  the  common  school  chil- 
dren, wield  an  instrument  of  incomparably  greater 
power  still.  The  American  Sunday-school  Union 
has  taken  a  noble  stand  in  this  particular. 

Ministers  of  the  gospel  may  render  a  most 
essential  service  to  the  cause  of  education,  by 
providing  for  the  education  of  pious  teachers. 

This  is  a  particular  of  immense  importance.  If 
we  insist  as  strenuously  as  I  have  endeavoured  to 


APPEAL  TO   THE  CLERGY.  3}9 

show  that  it  is  our  duty  to  do,  upon  the  introduc- 
tion of  religious  influences  into  schools,  we  should 
not  be  unmindful  of  the  obligation  which  this  stand 
imposes.  It  throws  on  us  the  responsibility  of 
demostrating  the  compatibility  of  a  highly  intel- 
lectual education  with  that  which  is  strictly  moral 
and  religious,  and  that  the  Bible  may  be  employed 
in  schools  without  encroaching  on  sectarian  grounds. 
These  are  points  on  which  society  can  be  con- 
vinced only  by  practical  demonstration.  We  are 
therefore  called  upon  to  act.  So  long  as  we 
merely  theorize  upon  the  subject,  we  deserve  not 
to  be  heeded,  and  we  jeopard  every  thing.  We 
owe  it  to  our  profession,  to  the  rising  generation, 
to  our  country,  and  to  the  Master  whom  we  rep- 
resent to  aftbrd  a  visible  illustration  of  the  bene- 
fits resulting  from  that  union  of  intellectual  and 
moral  culture  on  which  we  insist.  The  world  is 
tired  of  mere  abstractions  on  this  subject.  It 
therefore  justly  calls  on  us  for  practical  reasoning, 
in  support  of  our  views  ;  and  there  is  no  possible 
way  in  which  we  can  afford  it,  unless  we  first 
provide  a  supply  of  skilful  pious  teachers. 

Until  Christians  shall  do  something  more  than 
merely  speak  and  write  in  favour  of  this  object, 
it  is  not  reasonable  to  expect  that  politicians  will 
even  go  thus  far.  How  can  we  have  religious 
education  unless  we  have  religious  teachers  ?  and 
who  is  to  furnish  these,  if  the  religious  portion  of 
the  community  are  indifferent  about  it  ?     Most 


320         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

gladly,  therefore,  would  I  see  every  denomina- 
tion of  Christians  establishing  its  seminaries  to 
supply  this  cardinal  want.  There  is  no  one 
measure  that  is  so  much  needed,  there  is  none 
that  comprehends  so  much,  and  there  is  nothing 
easier  of  execution,  provided  Christian  benevo- 
lence would  only  include  it  among  the  objects  of 
its  benefactions.  From  ten  to  twenty  thousand 
dollars  would  be  sufficient  to  put  in  operation  a 
seminary  for  this  object,  (on  the  agricultural  plan 
suggested  in  the  preceding  chapter,)  which  might 
turn  out  annually  fifty  teachers. 

Along  with  this,  another  object  of  peculiar  in- 
terest might  be  accomplished,  and  to  which  I  em- 
brace this  opportunity  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
Church.  For  the  purpose  of  affording  the  candi- 
dates in  a  Normal  school  the  requisite  opportunities 
for  practising,  it  is  desirable  that  a  model  school 
should  be  connected  with  every  professional 
school  for  teachers.  Among  the  children  in  this 
school,  provision  might  be  made  for  admitting  the 
children  of  deceased  clergymen.  Most  of  the 
clergy  are  poor,  and  have  no  hopes  of  leaving 
behind  them  a  sum  sufficient  to  secure  the  ines- 
timable benefits  of  an  education  to  their  oflfspring 
in  the  event  of  their  death.  To  be  secure  on  this 
point,  is  their  strongest  earthly  wish.  The  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel  may  afford  to  renounce  for  his 
children  as  readily  as  for  himself,  the  hopes  of 
this  world's  goods,  but  accustomed  to  regard  it 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.  321 

as  the  most  invaluable  blessing,  without  which 
life  itself  were  not  desirable,  he  cannot  forego 
for  beings  dearer  to  him  than  his  very  soul,  the 
prospects  of  a  liberal  and  Christian  education. 
If,  then,  professors  of  religion  would  make  their 
pastors  happy  men,  relieving  their  bosoms  of  their 
weightiest  care,  especially  if  they  would  spare 
their  dying  hour  a  pang,  which  all  the  anticipated 
joys  of  Heaven  full  in  view,  would  scarce  have 
power  to  alleviate,  let  them  provide  asylums  to 
which  their  orphan  children  may  repair,  not  to 
obtain  a  scanty  allowance  of  food  and  clothing,  — 
this  much  the  oi^dinary  poor-houses  of  the  country 
will  secure  theniy  —  but  to  be  "  trained  up  in  the 
nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord."  I  have  not 
room  to  pursue  this  subject ;  but  I  cannot  leave 
it  without  commending  it  most  importunately  and 
solemnly  to  the  consideration  of  the  clergy,  and 
especially  of  those  for  whose  spiritual  benefit  they 
spend  their  lives. 

The  next  method  I  shall  mention  by  which  the 
clergy  may  help  forward  the  cause  of  religious 
education,  is  to  excite  and  aid  the  people  of  their 
respective  congregations  to  understand  and  to  dis- 
charge their  duty  as  the  moral  guardians  of  their 
children. 

Only  get  this  to  be  done,  and  there  will  be  com- 
paratively little  left  for  other  religious  agents  to 
accomplish.  Every  minister  of  the  gospel,  there- 
fore, should  look  upon  his  congregation  as  a  mon- 


322         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

itorial  school,  and  fathers  and  mothers  as  the  mon- 
itors through  whom,  he,  as  the  representative  of 
Him  who  said,  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come 
unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not,"  may  instruct 
the  lambs  of  his  flock.  I  would  by  no  means 
wish  to  see  Sunday-schools  discontinued  whilst 
the  religious  education  of  children  is  so  much  neg- 
lected ;  but  what  is  supremely  desirable  on  this 
head,  is,  that  every  family  should  become  a  school, 
every  parent  a  teacher,  and  every  day  a  Sunday. 
I  know  not  a  weightier  obligation  resiing  on  the 
clergy  than  that  which  calls  upon  them  to  do  their 
best  to  give  to  the  divinely  appointed  instrument 
for  the  moral  culture  of  the  young,  its  appropri- 
ate efficiency. 

To  effect  this  object,  they  must  give  their 
minds,  and  prayers,  and  efforts,  expressly  to  the 
work.  They  must  make  the  subject  of  education  a 
study,  that  they  may  know  how  to  execute  the 
command  of  Him  who  said,  "  feed  my  lambs." 
Indeed,  from  some  passages  in  St.  Paul's  Epistles, 
it  would  seem  that  an  acquaintance  with  the  art  of 
education  was  regarded  by  him  as  one  of  the  quali- 
fications for  the  ministerial  office.  Is  it  not  then  wor- 
thy of  being  taken  into  consideration  in  the  pro- 
fessional training  of  ministers  ?  Would  it  be  in- 
appropriate to  the  duties  of  Professors  of  Pastoral 
Theology  in  our  Theological  Seminaries,  that  they 
should  give  to  candidates  for  holy  orders,  prac- 
tical instructions  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         323 

may  conduct  with  most  effect  the  rehgious  instruc- 
tion of  the  children  of  their  parishes  ? 

But  ministers  of  the  gospel  should  not  only  in- 
form themselves,  they  should  also  preach  upon 
this  subject.  As  they  are  workers  together  with 
Christ,  they  should  not  rest  contented  till  every 
father  and  mother  are  workers  together  with  them. 
How  can  they  be  said  to  declare  the  whole  counsel 
of  God,  if  they  are  habitually  silent  about  this,  the 
most  comprehensive  in  the  list  of  social  duties  ? 
If,  through  their  supineness,  parents  continue  re- 
miss in  this  particular,  whose  will  be  the  fault? 
Should  not,  then,  every  pulpit,  from  one  end  of 
the  country  to  the  other,  direct  its  attention  and 
its  efforts  to  this  subject  ?  Should  not  sermons 
be  frequently  preached  expressly  designed  for 
children,  and  adapted  to  their  comprehension? 
Not  that  I  would  have  them  separated  from  their 
parents.  This  would  be  neither  necessary  nor  ex- 
pedient. It  would  suffice  that  at  an  appointed  time, 
say  of  a  Sunday  afternoon,  parents  and  children 
both  being  present,  the  latter  be  assembled  near 
the  speaker,  and  be  addressed  as  the  congrega- 
tion. There  are  no  discourses  more  instructive  to 
parents,  than  those  simple,  analytical,  elementary 
statements  (abounding  with  illustrations,)  of  reli- 
gious truth  which  are  suited  to  the  young. 

Should  not  ministers,  also,  incessantly  proclaim 
in  the  ears  of  pious  parents  their  solemn  duties  to 
their  offspring;  that  they  belong  to  every  day ;  and 


324         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

that  they  cannot  be  thrown  off  upon  the  hired, 
nor  the  Sunday-school  teacher?  There  is  every 
thing  to  entice,  as  well  as  to  impel  the  clergy  to 
this  effort.  It  is  one  in  which  it  is  next  to  impos- 
sible they  should  fail  of  success.  Can  it  be  that 
Christians  may  be  excited  to  give  their  money 
and  their  prayers  for  the  conversion  of  the  heath- 
en on  the  other  side  of  the  globe,  and  that  they 
cannot  be  aroused  to  exertion  for  the  salvation  of 
their  own  children  ?  Parents  cannot  think  with 
satisfaction  of  the  joys  of  Heaven,  whilst  they 
have  reason  to  fear  lest  its  portals  should  be  bar- 
red against  their  children.  How  then  can  we  sup- 
pose that  they  cannot  be  aroused  to  earnest  efforts 
for  their  religious  education,  when  they  are  assur- 
ed, (as  I  believe  with  all  sincerity  they  may  be,) 
that  in  this  case,  they  may  expect  to  stand  before 
the  Judgement  Seat  of  Christ  with  theirentire  flock, 
and  be  able  to  say,  here  Lord,  are  we  and  the  children 
whom  thou  hast  given  us  ?  The  opposite  result 
is  almost  too  awful  to  be  mentioned,  but  it  ought 
to  be  stated  from  the  pulpit ;  and  no  minister  is 
at  liberty  to  assume  that  it  is  impracticable  to  get 
parents  to  do  their  duty,  until  he  has  perseveringly 
tried  all  proper  measures  to  effect  it. 

But  the  clergy  should  do  much  more  than  merely 
tell  parents  of  their  duty  ;  they  should  show  them 
how  to  discharge  it  with  reference  to  the  details 
of  every  day.  I  knov\^  no  objects  more  deserving 
of  sympathy  than  those  mothers  (and  I  believe 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLEROV.         325 

they  are  very  numerous)  who  feel  their  obligation, 
and  have  the  desire  to  do  something  effectual  for 
the  religious  education  of  their  children,  but  they 
know  not  what  nor  how.  It  is  cruel  to  harrow  up 
the  feelings  of  such  persons  by  a  statement  of  the 
awful  consequences  of  parental  neglect,  and  there 
to  stop.  A  minister's  duty  is  but  just  commenced 
when  he  has  aroused  in  parents  a  disposition  to 
exert  themselves.  Then  it  is  that,  as  the  head  of 
a  large  monitorial  school,  he  should  go  forward 
with  his  practical  directions,  and  relieve  the  dif- 
fidence, and  gladden  the  hearts  of  mothers,  by 
showing  them  that  God  has  not  required  impossi- 
bilities at  their  hands. 

Out  of  a  variety  of  expedients  calculated  to 
have  this  effect,  I  shall  suggest  a  single  one,  viz : 
that  a  clergyman  having  prepared  the  way  by 
perhaps  a  series  of  appeals  to  the  judgements, 
consciences,  and  affections  of  his  people,  s  ould 
announce  that  at  a  stated  time,  in  every  week,  he 
will  meet  all  parents  who  may  feel  disposed  heart- 
ily to  set  about  the  religious  instruction  of  their 
children  :  that  he  should  at  each  meeting  specify, 
with  great  precision,  seven  Bible  lessons,  that  is, 
one  for  every  day  in  the  week,  to  be  taught  by 
the  father  or  mother  to  the  children  of  each  fam- 
ily ;  and,  chiefly,  that  he  should  spend  an  hour  in 
explaining  the  difficulties  in  these  lessons,  inviting 
parents  to  ask  questions  and  make  remarks,  point- 
ing out  the  leading  truths  to  be  impressed  upon 
28 


326  APPEAL    TO    THE    CLERGY. 

the  minds  of  children  ;  and  (what  is  of  especial 
importance)  throwing  out  such  practical  sugges- 
tions as  may  facilitate  for  parents  the  execution  of 
their  task ;  such,  for  instance,  as  showing  how  this 
difficulty  may  be  removed,  —  how  that  verse  may 
be  best  explained  to  children,  —  what  portions  of 
the  lesson  may  be  passed  over  slightly,  —  and  in 
what  manner  particular  truths  may  be  applied  to 
the  hearts  and  consciences  of  children  with  most 
effect. 

Is  it  not  an  animating  idea  to  think  of  the  pa- 
rents in  a  congregation,  —  certainly  the  mothers, 
(for  my  hopes  for  the  religious  education  of  the 
young  are  chiefly  founded  on  maternal  love  and 
piety,)  —  assembling  around  their  spiritual  leader 
once  a  week  to  learn  the  heavenly  art  oi  family 
education,  and  then  dispersing  to  in)part  to  their 
respective  classes,  that  is,  to  their  children,  on  the 
morning  or  evening  of  each  day,  the  lessons  of 
piety  and  virtue  which  they  have  studied  with 
the  assistance  of  the  superintendent  of  the  con- 
gregational school  ?  A  partial  experience  of  the 
beneficial  and  endearing  influence  of  such  a  plan, 
prompts  me  to  believe  that  he  who  will  try  it  will 
not  speedily  abandon  it. 

The  last  expedient  I  shall  mention,  by  which  the 
clergy  may  promote  the  interests  of  education,  es- 
pecially of  religious  education,  is  the  establishment 
of  private  or  parochial  schools  on  strictly  Christian 
principles. 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.  327 

While  I  urge  the  political  necessity  of  introduc- 
ing religious  instruction  into  all  our  public  schools, 
I  by  no  means  entertain  the  hope  that  it  will  be 
soon  accomplished.  It  would  be  improper,  there- 
fore, for  those  who  are  persuaded  of  their  duty  in 
this  respect,  to  wait  until  the  entire  country  can 
be  brought  to  act  in  concert  with  them.  The 
position  is,  I  think,  a  safe  one,  that  this  great  im- 
provement is  not  likely  to  be  made,  and  made 
properly,  in  the  public  schools,  till  an  example  is 
set  in  private  ones.  Should  not  the  clergy,  then, 
interest  themselves  to  furnish  this  example  ?  Who 
will  attend  to  it  if  they  do  not  ?  There  is  no  way 
in  which  so  strong  an  influence  may  be  exerted 
upon  public  sentiment,  in  favour  of  christianizing 
.education,  as  by  creating  model  schools,  in  which 
shall  be  illustrated  the  reciprocal  advantages  of 
uniting  intellectual  and  moral  culture. 

But,  apart  from  this  consideration,  do  not  the 
clergy  owe  it  to  the  children  of  their  charge,  to 
provide  that  on  every  day  of  the  week,  as  well  as 
on  Sunday,  their  daily  wants  shall  be  met  by  daily 
rehgious  teaching  ?  I  am  not  in  favour  of  the  un- 
necessary multiplication  of  private  schools,  but  I 
am  so  thoroughly  persuaded  of  the  vital  impor- 
tance of  religious  education,  that  I  would  make 
all  things  else  subordinate  and  subservient  to  this. 
I  would  rejoice  to  see  the  clergy,  of  all  denomina- 
tions, with  one  voice  say  to  the  government, "  give 
us  religious  education  in  the  public  schools,  and 


328  APPEAL  TO  THE   CLERCTY. 

we  will  encourage  them  ;  withhold  it,  and  we  shall 
feel  bound  to  establish  schools  of  our  own." 

If  the  government  will  make  the  public  schools 
acceptable  to  the  religious  part  of  the  community, 
it  is  much  to  be  preferred  that  they  should  be  re- 
sorted to  by  all.  Were  there  no  other  reason  for 
this,  it  is  a  sufficient  and  decisive  one,  that  in  any 
other  way  religious  education  must  be  very  im- 
perfectly diffused.  In  our  cities  and  largest  towns 
the  support  of  parochial  or  denominational  schools 
I  admit  is  practicable  ;  but  what  is  to  be  done 
when  you  come  into  the  villages  and  the  country, 
where  the  population  is  scattered,  and  where  the 
children  of  the  ne^hbourhood  belong  to  families 
connected  with  half  a  dozen  different  Christian 
bodies  ?  It  will  be  perceived  that  I  here  assume 
what  in  another  place  is  expressly  stated,  viz  :  that 
the  government  can  more  easily  introduce  the  Bible 
into  schools  in  a  way  agreeable  to  all,  than  the 
different  denominations  can  by  agreement  among 
themselves.  Upon  any  amalgamating  plan,  the 
question  relating  to  the  omission  of  peculiarities 
could  hardly  be  settled  by  the  sects  themselves ; 
whereas  if  the  government  were  to  prescribe  a  set 
of  lessons  in  the  Bible,  it  would,  of  course,  exclude 
such  portions  as  would  be  likely  to  bring  deno- 
minational preferences  and  prejudices  into  colli- 
sion, and  this  could  be  displeasing  to  but  few. 

There  are  some  I  am  aware  who  conscientiously 
think  that  Christians  are  bound  to  have  their  chil- 


APPEAL    TO   THE    CLERGY.  839 

dren  taught  at  school  the  whole  body  of  religious 
truth  as  they  receive  it,  or  to  have  nothing  of 
religion  taught.  Such  persons  I  would  beg  most 
earnestly,  to  reflect  upon  the  stern  alternative 
which  is  placed  before  us  in  this  country,  viz : 
that  of  having  the  religious  instruction  given  in 
our  schools  to  be  truly  catholic  in  its  character, 
or  to  have  none  at  all.  Suppose  we  insist  that 
it  shall  be  Episcopal,  or  Presbyterian,  or  Unita- 
rian, will  the  government  or  the  nation  assent 
to  it  in  regard  to  the  public  schools  ?  And  is  it 
not  clear,  from  the  miscellaneous  and  scattered 
character  of  our  agricultural  population,  which 
constitutes  nine-tenths  of  the  whole,  that  when  the 
strength  of  a  neighbourhood  shall  have  been  divi- 
ded some  half  a  dozen  times,  there  would  not  be 
enough  in  any  fi'agment  to  support  a  respectable 
school  ? 

Necessity  is  laid  upon  us,  therefore,  in  con- 
structing a  system  of  religious  instruction  for  our 
common  schools,  to  make  it  the  product  of  secta- 
rian compromise.  And  what  reasonable  objection 
is  there  to  this  ?  Is  there  not  in  the  Bible  enough 
which  is  matter  of  common  faith,  out  of  which  to 
frame  such  a  system  ?  Are  not  the  principal  re- 
ligious denominations  of  our  country  agreed  upon 
ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  verses  in  the 
sacred  volume  ?  I  know  that  there  are  some 
whose  views  are  such  that  they  could  not  be 
suited  upon  any  grounds  short  of  the  exclusion 
28* 


330  APPEAL  TO  THE   CLERGY. 

of  religion  from  our  schools.  But  such  are  scarcely 
one  in  a  hundred  to  the  mass  of  our  citizens.  And 
are  the  wishes  of  so  large  a  majority  to  be  over- 
ruled by  so  small  a  minority  ?  When  could  a 
legislative  measure  of  any  sort  be  carried,  if  more 
were  required  than  an  approximation  towards 
pleasing  all  concerned  ?  It  is  anti-republican  to 
maintain  that  a  minority,  however  small,  though 
it  be  by  a  single  individual,  should  control  the 
majority  ;  and  that  legislative  assembly  is  fortunate 
indeed,  which  in  a  measure  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance is  able  to  satisfy  nine-tenths  of  those  it 
represents. 

I  have  now  finished  enumerating  the  expedi- 
ents by  which  I  suppose  the  clergy  may  facilitate 
the  establishment  of  a  system  of  national  educa- 
tion in  the  United  States,  and  shall  close  this 
volume,  by  stating  two  additional  considerations 
to  those  already  offered,  to  excite  them  to  active 
and  untiring  exertions  for  this  object.  Before  I 
advance  to  these,  however,  I  beg  leave  to  repeat 
what  I  believe  I  have  already  stated  more  than 
once  perhaps,  that  I  offer  these  and  other  sugges- 
tions in  this  work  with  diffidence,  and  yet  from  a 
sense  of  duty.  This  volume  was  commenced  and 
has  been  prosecuted  with  a  practical  aim.  I  have 
endeavoured  to  form  a  correct  idea  of  the  present 
condition  and  wants  of  education  in  our  country, 
and  to  throw  out  views  which  may  have  about 
them  something  of  practical  adaptation.     How  far 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         331 

I  have  succeeded  has  yet  to  be  determined  ; 
and  I  can  only  say  that  if  the  result  shall  prove 
that  in  any  manner  or  degree  I  may  have  bene- 
fited the  cause  of  education  in  my  country,  and 
especially  the  cause  of  Christian  education,  it  will 
afford  a  pleasure  vsrhich  I  shall  carry  with  me  into 
the  eternal  world. 


One  of  the  considerations  referred  to,  and  one 
which  should  operate  most  powerfully  with  the  cler- 
gy to  induce  their  heartiest  efibrts  to  create  a  pub- 
lic sentiment  which  would  place  national  or  uni- 
versal education  upon  a  rational  basis,  is,  that  the 
intellectual  and  moral  culture  of  the  young,  when 
properly  conducted,  affords  the  only  possible  means 
of  achieving  "  Christian  Union." 

I  will  not  stop  to  discuss  the  question  of  the 
expediency  of  Christian  Union.  I  may  safely 
take  it  for  granted  that  all  those  who  entertain  a 
doubt  upon  this  subject,  attach  a  very  different 
idea  to  these  expressions  from  that  harmony  of 
feeling  and  op  nion  among  the  disciples  of  the 
Saviour,  which  constitute  the  sum  and  substance 
of  that  union  to  which  I  refer ;  and  for  which, 
could  I  command  it,  I  would  plead  with  angelic 
eloquence  and  power. 

About  a  union  "in  form,"  we  may  afford  to  be 
comparatively  indifferent,  (I  mean  so  far  as  re- 


332  APPEAL  TO  THE   CLERGY. 

lates  to  direct  efforts  to  produce  it,)  because  it  will 
naturally  and  spontaneously  ensue  upon  the  crea- 
tion of  unity  of  sentiment.  Any  diversity  of  prac- 
tice that  can  co-exist  with  this,  will  do  no  harm. 
Let  us  only  secure  that  union  of  feeling  and  opin- 
ion of  which  I  speak,  and  forms  may  be  left  to  re- 
gulate themselves.  Such  an  union,  I  not  only  be- 
lieve to  be  desirable,  but  practicable  ;  and  I  shall 
endeavour  to  show  that  it  can  be  brought  about 
only  by  the  instrumentality  of  improved  education. 
In  prosecuting  the  inquiry  as  to  the  bearing 
which  education  has  upon  the  achievement  of 
Christian  union,  I  remark,  that  a  union  of  the  va- 
rious religious  denominations  can  never  be  the  re- 
sult of  compromise,  nor  of  conventional  agree- 
ment. Whilst  I  honour  the  motives  of  those 
who  would  by  such  means  seek  the  attainment  of 
so  desirable  an  end,  1  feel  constrained  to  believe 
they  are  pursuing  an  ignis  fatuus.  I  sincerely  be- 
lieve, that  upon  such  terms  and  in  such  a  way,  un- 
ion would  be  wrong,  even  were  it  possible  ;  whilst 
I  maintain  that  it  would  be  at  once  admissible, 
safe,  and  most  devoutly  to  be  wished  for,  when 
it  can  be  made  to  have  its  foundation  in  harmo- 
ny of  sentiment.  Prior  to  a  revolution  of  opinion 
which  would  result  in  this,  it  would  not  be  extra- 
vagant to  say  that  formal  union  among  Christians 
is  not  to  be  desired.  It  would  be  productive  of 
mischief  instead  of  good  ;  or  at  the  best,  being 
based  upon  an  unnatural  foundation,  it  could  not 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.  333 

last.  We  cannot  become  united  until  we  are 
agreed.  This  results  from  the  very  structure  of 
the  human  mind  ;  and  external  union  upon  any 
other  terms,  cannot  fail  to  prove  deceptive  and 
ephemeral.  It  is  not  only  impracticable,  but  were 
it  otherwise,  it  would  be  improper  for  the  differ- 
ent branches  of  the  Christian  family  to  come  to- 
gether upon  terms  which  would  do  violence  to 
conscience.  They  have  no  right  to  seek  the  at- 
tainment of  the  most  desirable  ends  by  means 
that  are  exceptionable.  Conscientious  scruples 
are  not  to  be  trifled  with.  The  voice  of  con- 
science, when  properly  enlightened,  is  the  voice 
of  God  ;  and  not  to  comply  witli  its  requirements 
is  to  disobey  our  Maker.  Union  among  Chris- 
tians, then,  must  be  preceded  by  harmony  of 
opinion.  But  as  nothing  is  more  obvious  than 
that  opinions  may  change  ;  and  as  a  change  of 
opinion  will  naturally  be  followed  by  a  relin- 
quishment of  scruples,  here  is  afforded  ample 
room  for  effort  after  union,  in  a  way  that  is  as 
promising  as  unexceptionable.  I  exult  in  the  be- 
lief that  such  is  the  benevolent  constitution  of  the 
human  mind,  that  if  you  will  teach  and  dispose 
men  to  think  right,  they  naturally  and  almost 
unavoidably  will  think  alike.  What  we  supreme- 
ly want,  then,  is  such  an  improvement  in  the  art 
of  education  as  will  enable  us  to  qualify  the  youth 
of  our  country  for  engaging  aright  in  the  pursuit 
of  truth. 


334  APPEAL  TO  THE   CLEROY. 

Let  this  once  be  gained  ;  let  our  children  while 
growing  up  be  fitted  by  appropriate  mental  disci- 
pline, for  exercising  the  natural  and  unalienable 
right  of  every  human  being  of  thinking  for  himself; 
let  them  from  the  earliest  period, too,  be  thoroughly 
imbued  with  the  sentiment  that  it  is  their  interest 
to  know  the  truth  wherever  it  may  be  found  ;  let 
them  thus  prepared  undertake  in  manhood  to 
scrutinize  the  reasons  for  the  views  which  they 
had  implicitly  adopted  from  their  parents  in  the 
confiding  years  of  childhood,  and  I  firmly  believe 
that  diversity  of  opinion  on  all  important  points 
would  soon  dwindle  into  insignificance. 

I  confess  I  have  great  confidence  in  the  inherent 
power  of  the  human  mind,  (of  every  mind  that 
is  not  disordered,)  to  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of 
the  truth.  I  do  not  believe  this  to  be  the  preroga- 
tive of  genius.  There  are  inspired  as  well  as 
philosophical  reasons  for  believing,  that  honesty 
and  simplicity  of  purpose  contribute  far  more  to 
the  formation  of  correct  opinions,  thzm  talents  or 
great  learning.  Much  of  the  credit  which  is  ordi- 
narily given  to  common  sense  is  due  to  these,  or 
rather  these  are  among  the  prominent  constituents 
of  common  sense  to  whose  influence  its  efiicacy 
in  the  discovery  of  truth  is  mainly  owing. 

The  reason  that  there  is  so  much  error  in  the 
world,  and  that  it  is  so  slowly  removed,  is  not  that 
truth  is  inaccessible  to  the  generality  of  minds,  but 
mainly  because  the  education  we  receive  is  not  caU 


APFBAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         335 

culated  to  give  us  due  command  of  our  reasoning 
powers,  and  because  the  prejudices  with  ivhich  we 
are  suffered  to  grow  up  shut  our  eyes  to  the  percep- 
tion of  truth,  or  cause  us  to  avert  our  ears  from 
giving  to  its  evidence  an  impartial  hearing. 

Both  as  protestants  and  as  republicans,  consist- 
ency requires  that  we  entertain  these  sentiments. 
The  genius  of  our  government  places  every  man 
upon  the  footing  of  his  natural  rights.  Among 
these  it  not  only  recognises  the  privilege  of  inde- 
pendent thought,  but  puts  him  in  a  situation  in 
which  he  is  compelled  to  exercise  it,  or  be  at  the 
mercy  of  others  for  his  opinions.  The  fundamental 
principle  of  the  reformation  asserts  the  obligation, 
and  of  course  by  implication  admits  the  ability  of 
every  human  being  to  ascertain  the  truth. 

Let  therefore  the  clergy  of  all  denominations 
conspire  to  produce  that  improvement  in  the  pro- 
cess of  education  which  will  fit  it  to  perform  its 
appropriate  office  on  the  human  mind  ;  let  them 
not  rest  satisfied  either,  until  every  mind  and  heart 
in  the  community  shall  have  been  fairly  subjected 
to  its  influences,  and  then  all  that  they  will  have 
occasion  to  do  more,  and  ail  that  they  will  have  a 
right  to  do  in  order  to  bring  about  uniformity  of 
religious  belief,  is  to  make  a  full  and  candid  expo- 
sition of  their  sentiments  with  the  reasons  by  which 
they  are  supported, and  to  leave  each  individual  free 
to  form  his  own  conclusions  as  to  their  respective 
claims,  and  practically  to  decide  in  favour  of  that 


336         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

system  which,  in  his  judgement,  is  best  sustained 
by  reason  and  by  the  inspired  volume. 

The  course  here  recommended  is  in  harmony 
with  the  requirements  of  genuine  charity,  no  less 
than  those  of  a  sound  philosophy,  and  of  republi- 
can principles. 

It  is  high  time  that  the  real  nature  and  demands 
of  charity  were  better  understood.  Its  office  is 
not  to  repress,  but  to  further  inquiry  and  discus- 
sion, by  regulating  the  spirit  in  which  they  ought 
to  be  conducted.  It  encourages  a  frank  and  un- 
reserved uiterchange  of  views,  and  a  manly,  cour- 
teous, unshrinking  scrutiny  of  reasons.  It  never 
requires  a  sacrifice  of  truth  nor  a  compromise  of 
principle.  Its  existence  is  incompatible  with  the 
moral  imbecility  which  would  lead  to  this.  Such 
weakness  would  be  sinful  ;  and  genuine,  that  is, 
Scriptural  charity  "rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity,  but 
rejoiceth  in  the  truths 

We  should  hold  no  opinions  which  we  may  be 
ashamed  to  communicate  to  all  the  world ;  for  if 
the  effect  of  examination  be  to  show  that  they  are 
erroneous,  we  ought  to  have  the  magnanimity  to 
renounce  them  at  all  hazards ;  and  if,  for  fear  of 
this  result,  we  persist  in  keeping  them  to  ourselves, 
our  pusillanimity  only  shows  us  to  be  wanting  in 
that  charity  whose  sole  alliance  is  with  the  truth. 
A  church,  no  more  than  an  individual,  will  lose  by 
being  honest.  It  is  true  with  reference  to  asso- 
ciations as  well  as  persons,  that  "  honesty  is  the 


A3PPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.  337 

best  policy."  The  success  which  accompanies  in- 
sincerity is  at  best  but  transient,  while  it  is  incom- 
patible with  self-respect,  and  is  often  followed  by 
repentance.  There  is  no  trait  of  character  more 
distinctive  of  our  Divine  Master  and  his  first  dis- 
ciples, than  a  magnanimous  and  intrepid  frankness. 
In  this  respect  they  cannot  be  too  closely  imitated 
by  his  disciples  in  the  present  day.  The  Christian, 
like  his  God,  should  dwell  in  light.  All  about  him 
should  be  clear  and  luminous,  and  easy  of  inter- 
pretation. 

What  is  chiefly  wanted,  then,  to  heal  the  divi- 
sions in  the  Christian  ranks,  is  not  silence  as  to 
differences  of  opinion  ;  (this  would  only  tend  to 
prolong  and  to  perpetuate  divisions,  and  to  maintain 
a  state  of  armed  neutrality  ;)  but  what  the  Church 
supremely  needs  is,  investigation  in  the  spirit  of 
true  charity,  —  unlimited  toleration  as  the  precur- 
sor and  companion  of  an  unrestrained  communica- 
tion and  discussion  of  opinions.  The  only  possible 
way  of  arriving  at  a  healthy  and  desirable  uni- 
formity of  views  is,  by  the  impartial  consideration 
of  testimony  by  every  mind,  —  the  unfettered  ac- 
tion of  understanding  upon  understanding. 

Let  the  clergy,  then,  address  themselves  to  the 
delightful  task  of  making  the  sacred  right  and  duty 
of  investigation,  and  the  real  office  of  charity,  to 
be  better  understood.  We  should  ever  bear  in 
mind,  that  the  most  important  part  of  the  intellec- 
tual task,  which  every  one,  of  the  present  and  the 
29 


338  APPBAL    TO    THB    CLERGT*. 

coming  generation  will  have  to  perform,  will  be  to 
choose  between  conflicting  opinions  on  religion, 
government,  and  almost  every  other  topic ;  and 
that  it  is  consequently  our  duty,  as  the  moral 
guardians  of  the  young,  to  qualify  them  for  this 
arduous  work,  by  so  managing  their  education 
that  they  shall  learn  to  think,  and  be  inspired  with 
a  chivalrous  love  of  truth  and  justice.  Let  us  then 
with  united  hearts  and  hands,  conspire  to  produce 
that  reform  in  education  which  alone  can  lead  to 
this  result.  Let  us  have  the  minds  of  our  children 
thoroughly  impressed  with  the  great  philosophical 
fact,  that  conviction  is  an  involuntary  state  of 
mind,  and  thus  prepare  them  for  endeavouring  to 
bring  others  over  to  the  truth,  not  by  inflicting 
punishment,  but  by  calm,  rational,  respectful,  and 
persuasive  argument.  Let  us  have  them  informed 
how  often  their  fathers  had  occasion  to  change 
their  views,  and  how  unreasonable  they  felt  it,  to 
be  hurried  or  harshly  treated  whilst  prosecuting 
the  investigation  which  went  before  these  changes, 
that  thus  they  may  be  inclined  to  be  patient  and 
forbearing  toward  those  who  may  follow  our  ex- 
ample. Let  us  teach  them  that  our  government 
places  every  individual  on  the  basis  of  his  native 
rights,  among  which  stands  pre-eminent  the  right 
of  thinking ;  and  that  although  every  man  is  re- 
sponsible for  his  opinions,  as  really  as  for  his  con- 
duct, it  is  not  to  human  tribunals.  Let  us  have 
them  thoroughly  inspired  with  the  sentiment,  that 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.  339 

it  is  equally  the  interest  of  all  to  know  the  truth ; 
that  in  regard  to  this  they  sustain  to  each  other, 
and  to  society  at  large,  the  relation  of  consulting 
physicians,  not  that  of  opposing  lawyers  ;  that  it 
is  inexpedient  for  any  one  to  cherish  or  to  propa- 
gate error;  and  that  consequently  he  is  a  distin- 
guished benefactor  who  gives  us  a  new  truth,  or 
corrects  a  wrong  opinion.  Let  us  teach  them  to 
respect  honest  differences  of  opinion,  and  to  have 
a  proper  charity  for  doubts,  remembering  that 
doubt  is  the  natural  stale  of  a  thinking  mind  prior 
to  a  clear  perception  of  the  truth,  and  that  it  is  to 
be  dissipated  not  by  authority  or  force  in  any 
shape,  nor  yet  even  by  persuasion,  (since  no  man 
can  believe  as  he  pleases,)  but  solely  by  a  frank 
and  perspicuous  statement  of  good  reasons. 

Let  us,  in  this  way,  prepare  the  rising  genera- 
tion to  act  the  part  of  thinking  beings  in  the  spirit 
of  that  religion  which  demands  of  every  man  that 
he  shall  be  ready  always  to  give  his  reasons  for 
his  belief,  and  also  to  act  with  meekness  toward 
those  who  are  in  error ;  and  then  all  else  that  will 
be  requisite  to  bring  about  the  great  result  of 
Christian  union  will  be,  that  we  bring  forth  our 
various  opinions  to  the  light,  and  subject  them 
thoroughly  and  fairly  to  investigation ;  that  we 
treat  with  kindness  and  forbearance  all  those  who 
may  leave  our  ranks  at  the  bidding  of  conscience 
and  their  judgements,  and  receive  with  caution 
those  who  may  seem  to  come  over  to  our  side 


340  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

from  partisan  considerations.  We  are  now  by  far 
too  ready  lo  welcome  such,  forgetting  that  what 
is  true  of  a  military  is  pre-eminently  so  of  the 
spiritual  host,  that  strength  does  not  reside  alone 
in  numbers. 

Nor  let  it  be  imagined  that  this  recommendation 
of  universal  toleration  is  superfluous.  No  one  can 
allege  that  the  laws  of  toleration  are  yet  perfectly 
comprehended  in  this  country  ;  or,  that  being  un- 
derstood, there  is  no  room  for  improvement  in 
obeying  them.  If  any  one  suppose  that  perfect 
freedom  of  conscience  and  opinion  are  enjoyed 
among  us,  the  trial  of  a  very  simple  experiment 
would  tend  to  undeceive  him.  Let  him,  if  con- 
science do  not  forbid,  attempt  a  change  of  eccle- 
siastical connexion,  in  a  neighbourhood  where  con- 
siderable rivalry  has  existed  between  the  church 
he  leaves  and  the  one  he  joins ;.  and  however  up- 
right he  may  he  in  his  intentions, — however  mild, 
and  frank,  and  courteous,  in  the  statement  of  his 
reasons,  —  he  will  assuredly  suffer  for  it  in  some 
way  or  other.  If  a  merchant  or  a  mechanic,  his 
business  will  be  curtailed  ;  if  a  physician  or  a 
lawyer,  his  practice  will  be  temporarily  impaired ; 
and  if  he  sustain  no  business  relation  to  society ,^  he 
will  be  punished  in  a  way  most  painful  to  a  person 
of  proper  sensibility,  viz :  by  coldness  of  behav- 
iour, —  by  the  abstraction  of  good  will,  —  by  the 
interruption  of  social  cordiality, —  by  misinterpre- 
tation of  his  motives,  —  and  he  may  even  think 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.  341 

himself  fortunate  to  escape  positive  misrepresen- 
tation and  abuse.  Now,  such  things  ought  not  so 
to  be ;  and  I  mention  them  thus  plainly,  because 
they  constitute  one  of  the  most  effectual  impedi- 
ments to  union.  They  are  utterly  at  variance  with 
the  requirements  of  Christian  charity :  they  pre- 
sent as  real  a  case  of  persecution  as  any  that 
darkens  the  page  of  ecclesiastical  history :  they 
manifest  the  same  spirit,  differing  only  in  degree, 
with  that  which  fastened  its  victims  upon  spikes, 
or  committed  them  to  the  flames.  There  is  no 
other  common  ground  on  which  all  may  meet, — 
there  is  no  other  principle,  having  the  sanction  of 
the  golden  rule,  but  that  every  individual  be  left 
as  free  to  change,  as  originally  to  choose  his  church 
connexion  ;  and  that  he  be  able  to  exercise  this 
privilege  without  a  tongue  being  moved,  or  a  fin- 
ger raised,  to  inflict  the  slightest  wound  upon  him 
for  so  doing.  Our  only  security  against  the  evils 
apprehended  from  an  unrestricted  extension  of 
this  license,  lies  in  qualifying  all  by  appropriate 
education  for  its  safe  and  judicious  exercise. 


The  only  remaining  consideration  I  have  to  offer, 
to  induce  the  clergy  to  lend  their  hearty  exertions 
to  advance  the  interests  of  common  school  edu- 
cation, is,  that  it  is  a  duty  which  they  owe  tJieir 

country. 

29* 


343         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

Aside  from  our  religious  obligations,  our  fellow- 
citizens  have  a  claim  upon  our  active  efforts  to 
promote  the  cause  of  popular  instruction.  They 
support  our  families  for  the  express  purpose  that 
we  may  be  able  to  give  our  undivided  attention  to 
whatever  relates  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  mo- 
ral and  religious  interests  of  society.  Let  us  show 
them  that  we  are  not  ungrateful  for  their  kindness, 
nor  unmindful  of  our  political,  any  more  than  of 
our  spiritual  obligations.  Let  us  make  it  manifest 
that  genuine  patriotism  and  religion  are  not  incom- 
patible ;  that  the  charity  which  embraces  in  its 
range  the  entire  family  of  man,  does  not  forbid  an 
especial  regard  for  those  who  are  most  nearly  re- 
lated to  us.  Let  us  prove,  by  our  conduct,  that 
we  love  our  country  ;  that  we  sympathize  with 
our  fellow-citizens  in  their  hopes  and  fears  re- 
specting our  national  prospects  ;  and  that  we  are 
willing  to  spend,  and  be  spent,  for  the  promotion 
of  the  common  good. 

There  never  was  proposed  a  more  momentous 
question  than  that  which  must,  ere  long,  receive  a 
practical  answer  from  the  issue  of  the  experiment 
which  is  in  progress  in  this  country,  viz  :  Is  a 
people,  under  ant/  circumstances,  capable  of  self- 
government  ?  To  this  we  must  reply,  they  are,  if 
properly  educated,  but  not  otherwise.  It  is  there- 
fore a  perfectly  synonymous  question,  can  the  peo- 
ple be  universally,  or  even  generally  educated  ? 
Tyrants  say  not ;  and  from  this  assumption  they 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGV.  343 

draw  the  rational  inference,  that  they  are  incapa- 
ble of  governing  themselves,  and  therefore  out  of 
mere  parental  kindness  they  undertake,  "  by  the 
grace  of  God,"  to  manage  for  them  !  Grant  their 
premise,  and  their  conclusion  is  unavoidable.  But 
such  reasoning  would  drive  us  to  demolish  our 
school-houses, — to  silence  our  presses, — to  make  a 
bonfire  of  our  Bibles, — and  to  recommit  conscience 
to  the  keeping  of  men  of  like  passions  and  frailties 
with  ourselves.  Alluding,  as  they  generally  do, 
when  uttering  such  sentiments,  to  their  own  de- 
graded subjects,  they  unquestionably  speak  the 
truth.  That  the  body  of  the  Spanish  and  Italian 
peasantry,  for  instance,  are  incapable  of  self-gov- 
ernment, I  grant  without  a  moment's  hesitation ; 
but  their  rulers  take  good  care  to  forget  that  the 
ignorance  and  servility  which  constitute  the  dis- 
qualification are  of  their  own  creating.  Their 
conduct,  therefore,  in  pronouncing  them  incapable 
of  self-direction,  under  such  circumstances,  is  just 
about  as  plausible  as  would  be  that  of  an  arbitrary 
monarch,  who  should  first  bind  and  imprison  a 
wealthy  subject,  and  then  declaring  him  incom- 
petent to  manage  for  himself,  should  appropriate 
his  goods,  under  the  pretext  of  receiving  pay  for 
friendly  services  rendered  in  taking  care  of  him. 
It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  I  would 
rank  with  the  enemies  of  human  freedom,  all  those 
who  may  entertain  doubts  of  the  immediate  prac- 
ticability of  republican  institutions.     It  cannot  be 


344  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

disguised,  that  many  of  our  best  and  wisest  citizens 
entertain  such  fears,  and  their  number  seems  to  be 
increasing.  But  I  cannot  share  their  apprehen-. 
sions.  Their  forebodings  I  must  consider  prema- 
ture. The  crisis  of  our  nation  is  but  just  com- 
mencing, and  the  transforming  power  of  education 
has  never  yet  been  fairly  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
people.  In  it,  when  rightly  administered,  I  fondly 
trust  there  will  be  found  an  amulet  to  secure  us 
against  all  dreaded  evils.  I  firmly  believe  that  it 
will  prove  an  ample,  as  it  is  the  only  panacea  for 
our  social  ills.  I  confess  I  have  unbounded  confi- 
dence in  its  salutary  operations. 

But  whatever  decision  shall  be  given  to  this 
question,  either  by  reasoning  or  experiment,  our 
present  situation  and  policy  as  a  nation  are  as 
plain  as  day.  We  are  now,  and  at  least  for  a 
considerable  time  to  come  we  must  continue  to 
be,  a  self-governing  people,  and  should  make  our 
moral  provisions  accordingly.  Even  upon  the 
supposition  that  an  immediate  change  were  de- 
sirable, it  is  utterly  impracticable ;  for  no  matter 
what  the  motives  by  which  he  may  be  actuated, 
woe  be  to  the  man  who  shall  attempt  to  introduce 
among  us  the  mildest  form  of  arbitrary  govern- 
ment ;  to  place  upon  our  national  banner  the 
**  Dei  Gratia"  of  despots,  in  room  of  the  "  E  Plu- 
ribusUnum"  of  our  republican  brotherhood.  Ed- 
ucation, then,  properly  so  called,  is  the  hope  of 
our  republic,  the  only  safeguard  of  our  institutions 


APPEAL  TO  THE   CLERGY.  345 

and  our  liberties.  I  have  confidence  in  it,  that  it 
can  make  our  artists  and  farmers  skilful,  and 
thereby  be  promotive  of  national  prosperity ;  that 
its  tendency  will  be  to  make  us  a  virtuous,  and  con- 
sequently a  happy  people  ;  that  it  w^ill  qualify  our 
citizens  for  the  enactment  of  good  laws,  and  inspire 
them  with  a  disposition  to  obey  them  ;  that  it  will 
divest  them  of  religious  bigotry,  superstition,  and 
fanaticism,  in  all  their  forms ;  that  it  will  beget  a 
regard  for  personal  reputation  and  public  opinion, 
which  shall  be  equivalent  to  law  ;  and  that  it  will 
indemnify  us  against  the  arts  of  demagogues,  those 
worst  foes  of  good  government,  by  ultimately 
putting  a  stop  to  unprincipled  electioneering :  for 
only  give  a  man  sound  principles  and  knowledge  ; 
accustom  him  to  think  for  himself ;  let  him  have 
opinions  of  his  own,  respecting  the  relative  merit 
of  questions  and  of  men  ;  let  him  thus  become 
possessed  of  self-confidence  and  self-respect ;  and 
it  will  be  quite  a  delicate  matter  even  to  ask  him 
for  his  vote ;  much  less  will  he  be  elated  and 
duped  by  those  coarse  and  hypocritical  attentions 
which,  by  a  man  of  any  intelligence  and  character, 
must  be  looked  upon  as  the  grossest  insult. 

Our  best  interests,  as  well  as  safety,  therefore, 
impel  us  to  aim  at  the  universal  diffusion  of  know- 
ledge among  the  people.  We  are  urged  to  it  by 
no  weaker  motive  than  the  instinctive  principle  of 
self-preservation  ;  for  the  very  moment  we  acquire 
a  permanent  indifference  to  public  education  and 


346         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

popular  improvement  in  all  its  forms,  that  moment 
we  are  guilty  of  political  suicide.  As  a  nation  we 
have  embarked  in  the  novel  and  perilous  enterprise 
of  attempting  to  govern  ourselves.  The  eyes  of 
the  civilized  world  are  upon  us.  The  friends  and 
enemies  of  human  liberty  are  anxiously  waiting, 
though  with  opposite  wishes,  the  issue  of  the  ex- 
periment. Let  us  then  exert  ourselves  to  impress 
it  on  the  minds  and  hearts  of  our  countrymen, 
that  with  a  wise  and  virtuous  population,  all  is 
safe ;  but  that  disgrace,  defeat,  and  national  ship- 
wreck, must  inevitably  ensue  upon  the  prevalence 
of  ignorance  and  vice. 

There  is  something  most  intensely  interesting 
about  the  moral  attitude  of  our  country  at  the 
present  time.  She  seems,  without  intending  it, 
to  have  brought  herself  under  a  stern  necessity,— 
the  necessity  of  uncontrollable  circumstances,  — 
to  carry  education  to  the  highest  state,  both  of 
diffusion  and  improvement,  of  which  it  is  suscep- 
tible. The  Church  and  the  State  in  America  have 
become  exposed  to  a  common  danger,  and  there 
is  before  them  only  one  and  the  same  refuge.  The 
rapid  strides  of  an  unreflecting  democratic  feeling 
have  hurried  both  into  a  perilous  situation,  from 
which  they  will  find  themselves  obliged  to  look 
for  safety  to  education,  —  superior,  rational,  reli- 
gious, universal  education,  —  not  the  partial  edu- 
cation of  the  head,  or  heart,  or  body,  but  of  the 
entire  being,  —  a  simultaneous  and  harmonious 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         347 

cultivation  of  all  the  powers  God  has  given  us. 
God  in  vv^isdom,  and  I  trust  in  benevolence  to  us 
and  to  the  rest  of  mankind,  has  suffered  us  to  rush 
without  reflection  into  a  condition  which  requires 
us  to  become  not  only  almost,  but  emphatically  a 
Christian  people  ;  in  which  the  only  alternative 
placed  before  us  is  to  make  ourselves  pre-emi- 
nently intelligent  and  virtuous,  or  to  perish.  We  are 
thus  subjected  to  the  influence  of  the  same  power- 
ful stimulant,  which  urges  the  intemperate  to  re- 
form, when  told  by  their  physician  that  they  must 
moderate  the  indulgence  of  their  appetites,  or 
quickly  kill  themselves. 

In  Great  Britain,  and  on  the  European  continent, 
where  things  are  more  or  less  in  that  transition 
state,  through  which  the  entire  world  seems  des- 
tined to  pass,  the  change  from  arbitrary  rule  to 
free  government, — from  a  monopoly  of  privileges 
to  a  practical  recognition  of  the  natural  rights  of 
man,  —  goes  on  gradually  and  tardily.  Among 
the  most  zealous  advocates  of  reform,  there  are 
many  who  are  aware  of  the  danger  of  precipi- 
tancy, and  of  the  wisdom  of  proceeding  slowly. 
They  have  taken  warning  from  the  desperate  ex- 
periment of  the  French,  which  came  too  late  ybr 
us.  Prior  to  its  occurrence  we  had  passed  the 
Rubicon.  The  French  revolution  now  operates 
(and  who  knows  but  it  was  intended  for  this  pur- 
pose,) as  a  providential  beacon,  to  inspire  innova- 
tors with  caution,  and  to  teach  them  the  necessity 


348         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

of  prudence  and  deliberation,  in  bringing  about 
political  changes.  Such  a  restraint  was  needed 
by  Europeans,  because  the  distance  they  had  to 
travel  was  greater  than  with  us.  They  were  not 
so  well  prepared  for  making  a  political  bound  as 
we.  The  moral  position  which  we  attained  by 
revolution,  they  must  gain  by  a  gradual  process  of 
reform.  Any  other  attempt  must  certainly  result 
in  a  repetition  of  the  Gallic  tragedy.  Had  we,  as 
a  people,  been  similarly  apprized  of  the  danger  of 
rapid  innovation,  we  too  might  have  been  afraid 
to  take  the  steps  we  have  taken,  and  thus  the 
world  have  been  denied  the  benefit  of  our  exam- 
ple. In  the  years  immediately  preceding  '76,  no 
one  dreamed  of  a  separation  from  the  mother 
country.  A  redress  of  grievances,  —  a  lightening 
of  our  political  burdens,  sought  by  ordinary  means, 
—  was  all  that  was  contemplated.  The  idea  of 
revolution  was  the  involuntary  suggestion  of  cir- 
cumstances. National  independence  was  not 
sought,  but  forced  upon  us  by  the  obstinate  in- 
fatuation of  the  British  government.  Theydreamed 
as  little  of  the  consequences  of  our  difference,  when 
iu  its  incipient  stage,  as  we. 

The  finger  of  God  was  evidently  in  this  trans- 
action. There  is  no  event  in  the  history  of  any 
people  that  exhibits  a  more  manifest  providence. 
The  emancipation  of  this  country  was  in  its  incep- 
tion an  event  with  which  human  volition  or  design 
had  nothing  at  all  to  do.     It  originated  in  the  ju- 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLEROT.         340 

dicial  blindness  of  the  parent  government  and 
was  achieved  by  our  fathers  under  the  pressure 
of  a  stern  necessity.  Ours  is  a  position,  however, 
which  for  the  moral  and  political  regeneration  of 
the  world,  it  was  requisite  some  portion  of  the 
human  family  should  take.  The  separation  of  the 
Jewish  nation  from  the  rest  of  mankind  was  not 
more  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  know- 
ledge and  worship  of  the  true  God.  In  the  latter 
case,  a  world  was  to  be  redeemed  from  idolatry ; 
in  the  former,  from  political  misrule.  An  exam- 
ple was  needed  —  pioneers  were  wanting  —  and 
God,  I  fondly  hope,  has  selected  the  American 
people,  like  Israel  of  old,  to  be  the  harbingers  of 
mercy  to  the  race  of  man.  Could  the  posterity  of 
Jacob,  when  enslaved  in  Egypt,  have  foreseen  the 
immediate  consequences  of  their  emancipation, — 
could  they  have  anticipated  the  trials  incident  to 
their  transition  state,  the  forty  years  of  sojourn 
in  the  wilderness,  their  numerous  conflicts  with 
gigantic  foes,  their  sufferings  from  hunger  and 
from  thirst,  together  with  the  destruction  of  their 
entire  adult  host,  they  might  not  have  been  pre- 
vailed upon  to  forsake  the  country  of  their  servi- 
tude. But  their  eyes  were  fastened  on  the  land 
of  promise.  Their  attention  was  at  first  directed 
only  to  the  glorious  issue,  and  they  thought  not 
of  the  toil  and  privations  through  which  it  was  to 
be  reached,  until  it  was  too  late  for  them  to  retrace 
their  steps. 

30 


350         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLER6V. 

And  thus  it  was,  with  a  striking  similarity,  in 
the  case  of  the  American  people.  Goaded  to  des- 
peration by  their  oppressors,  they  adopted  the  bold 
resolve  of  separating  from  the  mother  country. 
The  notion  of  independence  once  embraced,  they 
became  intoxicated  with  the  idea  of  liberty, —  an 
intoxication  from  which  we  have  scarcely  yet  re- 
covered, —  and  thenceforth  all  thought  of  conse- 
quences immediate  or  remote  was  banished,  and 
they  looked  only  to  the  glory  and  the  happiness 
which  would  ensue  upon  a  successful  termination 
of  their  struggle. 

The  result  has  been  an  organization  of  society 
in  the  United  States,  precisely  such  as  seems  most 
favourable  to  a  manifestation  of  the  true  nature 
and  power  of  the  Christian  religion,  whilst  the 
Christian  religion  is  just  that  moral  system  whose 
aid  and  guidance  American  institutions  need,  and 
must  secure,  to  make  them  practicable.  Our  dem- 
ocratic zeal  has  precipitated  us  into  a  condition, 
in  which  we  are  likely  to  find  the  maintenance  of 
government  impossible,  without  the  restraining 
and  renovating  agency  of  Christian  education.  In 
our  eager  chase  of  political  reform,  there  has  been 
a  letting  loose  of  power,  which  requires  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Gospel  to  control  it.  Society  has 
been  dissected,  and  its  component  parts  set  free 
to  take  what  course  each  pleases.  In  monarchical 
governments,  the  number  of  wills  to  be  regulated 
is  small ;  there  is  little  individuality  of  character ; 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLEROV.         351 

and  most  men  have  no  moral  being  aside  from  the 
mass  of  which  they  constitute  a  part.  But  under 
our  repubUcan  forms  of  government,  every  man  is 
recognised  as  a  free  agent ;  and  now  a  species  of 
education  is  required,  which  shall  have  power  to 
make  those  who  are  left  free  to  do  as  they  please, 
choose  to  do  as  they  ought.  Without  such  a  power, 
we  shall  be  compelled  to  retrace  our  steps  through 
seas  of  blood  to  a  more  arbitrary  form  of  govern- 
ment. But,  thanks  to  a  paternal  Providence,  such 
a  power  does  exist,  and  is  to  be  found  in  a  con- 
trolling union  of  the  Christian  religion  with  all  our 
schemes  of  popular  instruction.  My  brethren  !  let 
us  see  to  it  that  this  power  be  applied. 

The  course  which  is  pursued  by  our  politicians 
to  avert  the  dangers  that  now  threaten  us,  is  in 
itself  calculated  to  increase  the  necessity,  and  to 
ensure  the  adoption,  of  principles  of  education 
which  shall  carry  with  them  something  more  than 
human  energy.  The  means  of  relief  to  which 
they  commonly  resort,  only  tend  to  hasten  the 
catastrophe  they  would  prevent.  They  pursue  a 
temporizing  policy  which,  reaching  as  it  does,  only 
to  the  surface  of  our  difficulties,  accomplishes  but 
little  for  the  present,  and  fills  the  future  with  ill 
omens.  There  is  an  alarming  tendency  in  our 
rulers,  to  seek  relief  in  remedies  which  are  both 
inadequate  and  inappropriate.  They  seem  to 
overlook  entirely  what  every  thing  proclaims,  that 
the  evils  under  which  we  groan  at  present,  and 


352  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLEROT. 

the  still  greater  ones  that  threaten  us,  are  moral 
evils,  and  that  moral  evils  require  moral  remedies. 

The  country  is  supposed  to  be  in  danger  from 
the  controlling  influence  exerted  by  a  reckless, 
selfish,  and  unprincipled  party  spirit  in  determining 
our  presidential  and  other  elections.  What  is  to 
be  done?  "Mend  the  constitutions!" — exclaim 
many  of  our  leading  politicians.  But  what  will 
this  avail  if  they  do  not  at  the  same  time  mend 
the  people  ? 

The  whole  commercial  world  is  thrown  into 
convulsions,  as  some  imagine,  by  the  mistaken 
policy  of  our  government.  What  remedy  is  pro- 
posed? "Fly  to  the  polls  !" — "  Effect  a  change 
of  rulers  I"  —  is  the  general  cry.  And  when 
brought  to  the  polls  what  are  the  expedients  re- 
sorted to  to  decide  the  people's  choice  ?  The  coffee- 
houses are  thrown  open !  Administration  and 
anti-administration  grog-shops  are  established  I 
And  worse  than  all,  bribery,  aye,  the  corrupt  and 
corrupting  use  of  money  is  resorted  to  !  at  first, 
secretly,  it  is  true  ; — but  there  is  too  much  reason 
to  fear,  that  gathering  boldness  from  success,  and 
hardihood  from  indulgence,  it  will  be  at  length 
employed  openly,  and  with  unblushing,  undisguised 
effrontery ! 

And  what  is  the  pretext,  what  the  apology  for 
such  a  course?  "Self-defence!"  is  the  mutual 
reply, — "The  opposing  party  employ  the  money 
of  the  public  treasury  to  determine  the  elections  ; 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.  863 

and  improper  as  we  think  it,  we  are  compelled  to 
use  our  own  funds  for  this  purpose  or  be  beaten  !" 
That  is,  the  one  side  are  suspected  of  committing 
a  grievous  evil — grievous  in  the  sight  of  God  as 
it  should  be  in  the  sight  of  man  —  and,  forsooth, 
because  they  are  supposed  to  have  sinned  offi- 
cially ;  the  others  justify  themselves  thereby  for 
committing  the  very  same  sin  unofficially  ! 

I  am  not  concerned  to  determine  the  degree  of 
justice  one  way  or  the  other,  with  which  the  crim- 
ination and  recrimination  of  our  conflicting  po- 
litical parties  in  relation  to  this  matter  are  made. 
It  is  quite  enough  to  justify  the  heartiest  remon- 
strance from  the  lips  and  pen  of  every  moralist  to 
know,  and  this  I  do  know  from  personal  observa- 
tion, that  such  iniquity  is  ever  practised.  This  being 
the  case,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  every  virtuous 
member  of  society  —  of  every  patriot,  and  espe- 
cially of  every  minister  of  the  gospel,  for  his  coun- 
try's sake  no  less  than  for  religion's  sake,  to  speak 
out  plainly  in  the  language  of  rebuke,  and  particu- 
larly to  demonstrate  the  impolicy  of  a  practice 
in  which,  unhappily,  some  of  our  most  patriotic 
citizens  have  been,  imperceptibly  and  in  opposition 
to  their  own  principles  and  wishes,  led  to  partici- 
pate. That  such  measures  are  impolitic,  is  plain 
as  day.  To  resort  to  whisky  and  to  bribery  to 
control  elections  is  to  resort  to  desperate  remedies. 
It  is  far  worse  than  repairing  to  the  bottle  when 
one's  fortune  is  in  jeopardy.  It  is  true,  apparent 
30* 


354  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY, 


# 


good  may  be  in  some  cases,  the  im  mediate  result ;  but 
it  is  good  too  dearly  bought.  By  such  a  course  an 
irreparable  injury  is  done  the  national  character. 
A  wound  is  inflicted  on  the  public  morals,  and 
there  is  too  much  reason  to  fear  it  is  in  most 
cases  an  immedicable  one.  From  that  citizen  who 
will  barter  his  judgement  or  his  conscience  for  a 
bribe,  little  can  be  hoped.  His  bosom  thence- 
forth is  a  stranger  to  all  nobler  motives. 

Beside,  it  should  never  be  forgotten,  that  the 
man  who,  this  year  for  a  pint  of  whisky,  votes  to 
support  the  constitution,  may  next  year  for  a  quart 
vote  to  overthrow  it.  To  rely  on  such  expedients, 
is  worse  than  to  depend  upon  the  pumps,  and  on 
throwing  the  cargo  overboard, to  save  a  vessel  from 
destruction,  while  the  water  is  suffered  to  pour  in 
through  an  unstopped  breach.  It  is  too  much  like 
sowing  up  the  lips  of  a  putrid  abscess,  and  thereby 
sending  the  diseased  contents  to  prey  internally 
upon  the  vitals.  Nothing  can  have  the  effect  of 
divesting  elections  of  unfairness  and  of  making  a 
dependence  upon  the  vote  of  the  people  safe,  but 
virtuous  education.  A  permanent  removal  or  even 
a  mitigation  of  the  evil  of  corrupt  electioneering, 
cannot  be  effected  in  any  other  way  than  by  fas- 
tening on  the  moral  sense  of  the  community  through 
the  agency  of  religious  education,  the  stern  im- 
pression that  their  motives  and  their  conduct  at 
the  polls  will  form  a  part  of  the  disclosures  at  the 
day  of  judgement. 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         355 

Other  instances  might  be  adduced  to  prove  that 
our  legislators,  for  the  most  part,  overlook  the  ne- 
cessity of  employing  the  transforming  efficacy  of 
moral  causes,  for  the  removal  of  the  moral  evils 
under  which  society  is  suffering.  I  might  refer, 
for  example,  to  most  of  the  recent  legislation, 
having  for  its  object  the  protection  of  human  life 
against  the  carelessness  of  some,  the  lawless  vio- 
lence of  others,  and  the  influence  of  certain  fash- 
ionable principles  in  others  still.  These  are  evils 
which  can  never  be  eradicated, nor  perhaps  greatly 
moderated,  by  any  power  legislation  can  exert. 
All  that  our  legislative  bodies  can  do,  in  the  way 
of  preventing  these,  is  to  impose  penalties  ;  but 
these,  if  mild,  will  not  be  heeded,  and  if  severe 
cannot  be  enforced. 

But  thanks  to  Him,  the  economy  of  whose  pro- 
vidence is  always  to  be  "  educing  good  from  ill," 
the  effects  of  this  mistaken  policy  are  such  as  must 
accelerate  its  overthrow,  and  bring  honour  to  the 
Christian  religion,  by  demonstrating  the  necessity 
of  a  restraining,  and  what  is  better,  a  reforming 
influence,  which  can  be  found  no  where  else  than 
in  the  application  of  its  principles  to  the  education 
of  the  youth  of  our  country.  The  present  defec- 
tive course  of  our  rulers,  if  persisted  in  much 
longer,  cannot  fail  to  make  things  go  from  bad  to 
worse,  until  society  shall  be  brought  to  the  eve  of 
dissolution,  and  all  the  advocates  of  law  and  order, 
and  of  constitutional  government,  shall  be  obliged 


356         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLEROT. 

to  throw  themselves  into  the  Christian  ranks,  and 
make  common  cause  in  hastening  the  reign  of 
religious  principles  in  our  schools,  and  by  their 
means,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our 
country.  Such,  I  fondly  trust,  is  to  be  the  glori- 
ous result.  Of  its  approach,  I  think,  we  may 
discern,  in  the  noble  stand  taken  by  the  legislature 
of  New-York  when  viewed  in  connexion  with 
the  circumstances  which  gave  rise  to  it,  a  harbin- 
ger and  pledge. 

It  is  because  of  considerations  such  as  these, 
that  the  Christian  philosopher  can  survey  the  ex- 
isting crisis  of  his  country  with  composure  and  with 
hope.  Where  all  is  dark  to  others,  a  pleasing  pros- 
pect opens  to  his  view.  With  the  telescope  of  faith, 
he  descries  in  the  distance,  beyond  the  reach  of  or- 
dinary sight,  benevolent  intention,  brighter  light,  and 
better  days.  ByTiis  discerning  vision  the  rainbow  of 
mercy  is  seen  to  span  the  cloud,  which  to  the  sight 
of  others  only  menaces  destruction.  Though  black 
and  threatening  in  its  appearance,  by  him  it  is 
regarded  as  the  pillar  of  cloud,  designed  to  guide 
a  mighty  nation  in  its  journey  through  a  proba- 
tionary wilderness.  National  misfortunes  are 
looked  upon  by  him  as  blessings  in  disguise.  Com- 
mercial embarrassment,  the  wreck  of  fortunes, 
the  prevalent  distress,  he  regards  as  so  many 
fatherly  chastisements,  intended  to  shield  us  against 
the  dangers  of  a  too  prosperous  condition  ;  chas- 
tisements, which,  though  for   the   present  griev" 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         357 

ous,  may  yet  work  out  for  us  the  peaceable  and 
saving  fruits  of  national  righteousness.  The  reck- 
less selfishness  of  party  spirit,  the  ruthless  perpe- 
trations of  popular  lawlessness,  he  looks  upon  as 
so  many  admonitions  from  a  paternal  providence, 
giving  us  self-knowledge  with  a  view  to  humble 
us,  and  revealing  to  us  our  true  condition,  that  he 
rid  us  of  that  fatal  self-complacency  by  which 
we  have  been  hoodwinked  as  to  the  dangers  that 
encircle  us. 

By  this,  then,  as  the  last  consideration  I  would 
offer,  —  hy  their  love  of  country,  —  I  would  call 
upon  my  clerical  brethren  to  address  themselves 
with  zeal  and  concert,  to  create  a  public  senti- 
ment in  the  United  States,  which  shall  be  favour- 
able to  placing  national  education  on  a  religious 
basis.  Our  country  is  in  danger ;  and  from  a  view 
of  the  licentiousness  of  the  populace  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  selfishness  of  many  who  seek  and 
hold  office,  on  the  other,  it  were  difficult  to  tell 
whether  she  is  most  in  danger  from  popular  ig- 
norance, or  unsanctified  intelligence.  One  thing, 
however,  is  perfectly  clear,  that  her  only  possible 
safety  is  to  be  found  in  Universal  Education, 
rpoN  Christian  principles  ! 


CONCLUSION. 


I  WOULD  close  this  volume  with  an  importunate 
appeal  to  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  throughout  the 
Union. 


358         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

Brethren  in  the  sacred  ministry  !  —  Suffer 
me  to  propose  to  you  a  question  or  two  with 
reference  to  the  all-important  subject  of  which  I 
have  been  treating.  But  before  I  state  them,  I 
would  most  earnestly  request,  (and  I  affect  not 
one  particle  of  solemnity  which  I  do  not  feel,  in 
doing  so,)  that  you  would  give  them  a  considera- 
tion in  those  solemn  moments,  when  oppressed 
with  a  sense  of  your  official  responsibility,  you 
repair  to  a  throne  of  grace  for  light,  and  guidance, 
and  support,  and  with  the  honest  question  on 
your  lips,  — "Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?" 

I  ask,  then,  have  I  made  an  exaggerated  state- 
ment of  the  "  political  necessity  of  religious 
EDUCATION?"  Is  it  a  corrcct  view  which  has 
been  taken  of  the  will  of  God  that  every  human 
being  on  whom  he  has  bestowed  the  germ  of  in- 
tellectual and  moral  susceptibility  shall  receive  an 
education  —  of  the  right  of  every  child  to  claim 
it — of  the  obligation  of  parents  to  bestow  it — and 
on  their  default,  of  the  duty  of  society,  as  their 
sponsor,  to  discharge  the  debt?  Have  I  over- 
estimated the  magnitude  of  the  evils  which  result 
from  a  separation  of  intellectual  and  moral  edu- 
cation, and  of  the  religious  as  well  as  political  ne- 
cessity of  reuniting  them  ?  Is  it  true  that  popu- 
lar morality  can  have  no  other  than  a  religious 
basis  ?  Have  I  claimed  too  much  for  the  inspired 
volume,  in  asserting  that  it  is  the  sole  authority 
and  guide  which  it  is  right  and  safe  to  follow  in 
forming  the  character  of  the  children  of  the  na- 


APPEAL   TO   THE    CLERGY.  359 

tion  ?  Does  it,  or  does  it  not,  sustain  to  govern- 
ments no  less  than  to  private  persons,  the  command- 
ing relation  I  have  supposed  ?  Is  it  true  that  the 
FAMILY,  the  divinely  constituted  engine  for  effect- 
ing the  religious  education  of  the  young,  does  so 
little  to  promote  it  ?  and  that  parents  who  are 
primarily  charged  with  this  most  important  of  all 
human  duties,  are  so  sadly  remiss  in  their  atten- 
tion to  it  ?  Have  I  rightly  stated  the  controlling 
relation  which  public  sentiment  sustains  in  a  re- 
publican government,  to  education  as  well  as 
every  other  interest,  and  of  the  sluggishness  and 
impotence  of  legislation  when  not  impelled,  or 
not  sustained  by  its  co-operation  ?  Is  it  true  that 
the  means  on  which  we  have  hitherto  relied,  for 
the  moral  education  of  the  entire  youth  of  our 
country,  have  proved  inadequate  —  that  the  com- 
mon school-house  is  the  only  platform  on  which 
all  the  children  of  the  nation  ever  meet,  and  that 
there  exists  no  other  practicable  mode  of  getting 
at  the  mind  and  heart  of  every  child,  with  a  view 
to  achieve  its  moral  and  religious  education,  than 
that  of  sending  among  them  on  this  theatre,  joioms, 
professionally  educated  teachers,  with  the  Bible  in 
their  hands  ?  Have  I  correctly  represented  the 
inducements  and  the  obligations  of  the  clergy,  to 
exert  themselves  to  create  a  wholesome  public 
sentiment  throughout  the  land  in  relation  to  this 
all-important  subject  ?  And,  lastly,  let  us  one  and 
all  inquire  at  the  bar  of  conscience,  —  are  we 


360  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

DOING  OUR  DUTY?  What  hsve  we  done  for  the 
multiplication  and  improvement  of  those  nurse- 
ries, in  which  three  millions  eight  hundred  thou- 
sand, of  the  four  millions  of  children  in  our  country 
are  to  receive  all  the  education  which  they  will 
ever  get  ?  Have  we  ever  prayed  for  common 
schools  ?  Have  we  ever  preached  about  them  ? 
Have  we  ever  written  an  article  for  the  religious 
or  the  political  press  in  their  behalf?  Do  we 
make  them  the  frequent  subject  of  our  conversa- 
tion ? 

Whatever  may  be  our  conduct  now  in  relation 
to  this  matter,  a  day  is  coming  when  we  shall  be 
called  upon  to  reply  to  these  inquiries,  and  by  an 
authority  which  will  not  allow  us  to  evade  an  an- 
swer. May  God,  in  mercy  to  his  Church  and  our 
country,  grant  that  we  may  now  prepare  a  prac- 
tical reply  of  which  we  need  not  be  ashamed 
when  we  stand  at  his  tribunal. 

To  this  end,  let  us  be  up  and  doing,  and  by  our 
future  zeal  atone,  in  some  measure,  for  our  past 
remissness  in  relation  to  this  all-important  subject. 
There  is  every  thing  to  encourage  us  to  put  forth 
prompt  and  active  efforts  in  this  cause.  The  pub- 
lic mind  is  peculiarly  excitable  just  now  in  relation 
to  the  interests  of  popular  instruction.  It  is  a  most 
auspicious  circumstance,  that  a  speaker  of  respec- 
tability may,  almost  at  an  hour's  warning  and  in 
any  part  of  the  Union,  assemble  an  audience  to 
hear  an  address  on  education.    If  we  preach  upon 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         361 

the  subject,  therefore,  the  people  will  come  to  hear 
us ;  if  we  print,  they  will  as  certainly  read  ;  and 
if  we  make  it  a  topic  of  conversation,  they  will  not 
fail  to  listen  to  us. 

And  let  us  not  delay  the  discharge  of  this  im- 
portant duty.  There  are  many  things  that  con- 
spire to  direct  our  attention  to  the  admonition, 
"  what  thou  doest  do  quickly."  I  will  mention 
but  a  single  circumstance.  There  are  abundant 
indications  that  the  control  of  education,  which 
the  clergy  have  wielded  for  hundreds  of  years 
past,  will,  in  a  short  time,  be  transferred  to  other 
hands.  In  every  State  in  the  Union  it  is  about  to 
be  assumed,  as  it  should  be,  by  the  government. 
It  is  a  very  serious  fact,  that  whilst  under  our  con- 
trol we  permitted  its  only  religious  feature  to  be 
removed,  by  submitting  too  quietly,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  to  the  banishment  of  the  Bible  from  the 
schools.  We  have  yet  an  opportunity  to  repair, 
in  some  degree,  the  evils  which  ensued  upon  this 
act,  but  let  us  bear  in  mind  it  is  an  opportunity 
that  cannot  be  enjoyed  long. 

The  country  is  calling  aloud  from  every  quarter 
for  professionally  educated  teachers.  Every  one 
must  be  impressed  with  the  importance  of  having 
pious  men  as  the  instructers  of  our  youth.  Whether 
our  schools  shall  be  supplied  with  such  depends,  for 
obvious  reasons,  upon  Christians,  and  on  Christian 
ministers.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
the  establishment  of  institutions  for  this  purpose 
by  the  church,  on  Christian  principles,  would  give 
31 


363  APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

general  satisfaction  throughout  the  country ;  but 
it  is  quite  as  certain,  that  if  she  do  not  take  mea- 
sures to  provide  such  soon,  the  government  will  be 
required  to  establish  them,  when  of  coui-se  so  strict 
a  regard  will  not  be  paid  to  the  character  of  the 
candidates  admitted.  The  question  then  presents 
itself  to  us  with  the  most  intense  and  pressing  in- 
terest, shall  we  not  add  the  education  of  common 
school  teachers  to  the  list  of  objects  which  already 
command  the  attention  of  Christian  benevolence  in 
our  country  ? 

Will  it  be  said  by  any  that  this  list  is  already 
sufficiently  formidable  ?  that  it  imposes  as  heavy 
a  tax  upon  the  church  as  she  is  well  able  to  bear  ? 
If  this  be  the  only  difficulty,  go,  I  would  say  to 
such  an  objector,  and  study  the  exhaustless  re- 
sources of  that  benevolence  which  has  undertaken 
and  has  thus  far  prosecuted,  not  the  improvement 
of  a  nation,  but  the  renovation  of  a  world  !  — 
go  to  the  foreign  missionary,  and  ask  him  what  he 
thinks  of  the  amplitude  of  that  fund,  on  the  faith 
of  which  he  has  attacked  the  inveterate  supersti- 
tions of  six  hundred  millions  of  heathens  ! — go  to 
the  first  disciples  of  our  Saviour  and  ask  them 
their  impression  of  the  range  and  the  dimensions  of 
that  love  which  caused  the  Son  of  God  to  under- 
take the  reformation  of  our  race,  although  so  poor 
as  not  to  be  able  to  pay  a  trivial  tax  without  the 
performance  of  a  miracle,  and  which  sent  them  forth 
without  either  scrip  or  purse,  to  propagate  his  prin- 
ciples. They  will  tell  you  of  a  charity  that  "  never 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY.         363 

faileth,"  and  which  embraces  in  its  benefactions 
every  object  which  either  immediately  or  remotely 
tends  to  spread  the  kingdom  of  their  master. 
They  will  tell  you  that  to  the  fund  of  heaven-born 
charity  there  belongs  a  fulness  which  precludes 
insolvency,  increasing  as  it  is  drawn,  accumulating 
by  expenditure — that  in  its  nature  it  is  elastic, 
expansive,  diffusive  ;  not  as  theundulating  pendu- 
lum, always  retracing  the  same  beaten  segment ; 
but  like  the  radii  of  a  circle,  whose  centre  is  the 
heart,  and  their  circumference  the  universe. 

May  we  rot,  then,  call  on  every  Christian  de- 
nomination in  our  country  for  an  additional  ten 
or  twenty  thousand  dollars  for  establishing  under 
der  the  control  of  each,  a  nursery  for  pious 
school-masters  ?  The  history  of  our  religious 
charities  encourages  the  belief,  that  if  the  com- 
prehensive religious  bearings  of  this  measure  were 
fully  stated,  a  favourable  response  to  such  an  ap- 
plication would  be  received.  The  nature  of 
Christian  obligation  and  of  parental  love  forbids 
the  indulgence  of  any  other  idea.  Let  us  suppose 
for  a  moment  that  a  course  of  religious  instruction 
had  been  fairly  established  in  our  schools  ;  and  that 
a  pious  teacher  had  been  placed  at  the  head  of  each, 
in  whom  religious  parents  found  a  wise  and  effi- 
cient auxiliary  in  training  up  their  children  with 
virtuous  sentiments  and  habits.  Let  us  next  sup- 
pose that  a  formal  proposition  were  made  by  the 
government  to  banish  the  Bible  from  the  school- 
house,  and  to  displace  the  pious  teacher  to  make 


364         APPEAL  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

room  for  one  who,  if  not  immoral,  was  not  reli- 
gious in  his  character ;  in  other  words,  to  put 
things  on  the  footing  which  they  occupy  at  pre- 
sent :  how  would  such  a  movement  be  regarded 
by  the  Christian  community  ?  Would  they  stop 
their  ears,  and  close  their  eyes,  and  shut  their 
mouths,  and  fold  their  arms  with  satisfied  indiffer- 
ence ?  On  the  contrary,  would  not  the  entire 
country  be  thrown  into  commotion  by  such  a 
proposition  ?  Would  not  the  pillow  of  the  pious 
mother  be  bathed  in  tears  ?  Would  not  fathers 
assemble  in  solemn  council  to  deliberate  about 
appropriate  methods  of  resistance  ?  Would  not 
protest  upon  protest  urge  their  way  to  our  legisla- 
tive chambers,  until  the  secretary's  table  should 
groan  beneath  their  load  ?  Would  not  the  pulpit 
and  the  press  become  vocal  with  remonstrance  ? 
And  would  not  the  throne  of  grace  be  almost 
wearied  with  the  supplications  of  anxious  parents 
praying  for  the  prevention  of  so  awful  a  calamity  ? 
But  what  is  the  difference  as  to  the  effects,  be- 
tween the  introduction  and  the  perpetuation  of 
this  state  of  things?  We  have  not  the  shadow  of 
a  pretext  for  inaction  on  the  ground  of  the  im- 
practicability of  arousing  the  religious  part  of  the 
community  to  a  proper  sense  of  the  importance  of 
this  subject.  May  our  future  conduct  then  prove 
that  we  have  been  duly  mindful  of  the  inspired 
admonition,  "To  him  that  knoweth  to  do  good, 
and  doeth  it  not,  to  him  it  is  sin," 


# 


?    ■  •  t     r^         iiHi  

*-         A 000  g""'"'''"!? 


^un  0 


iMGN-CiRCiJLATING 
TO  ALL 
BORPOWEI^S      . 


LC 
89 

P3^a 


^    ^  * 


1 


